Unrequitable
by Minikimii
Summary: Riku wishes that Sora would stop trying to shove Naminé and Roxas together. Maybe then Sora would see that there are more important things in life other than his brother and his hate for Axel. Maybe then he'd see what Riku wants. RS, Opens with drabble
1. Unreachable

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But you're on a fanfiction site, so you should already know that.

Note: This was written to be turned in as a Vocabulary Story (school work). Therefore, I hope you can take some of the awkward phrasing with a grain of salt and just focus on the story.

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**Unreachable**

Inscrutable. Intoxicating. Irrevocable.

These were the feelings of one-sided, unrequited love. These were Riku's feelings alone and the silveret knew he could never have this one. As much as his body had showed a propensity toward the object of his affection, the subject of his every fantasy, he knew it was wrong. Perhaps it was the psyche of the unattainable. Maybe it was the sense of taboo.

Worst of all, and Riku hated to admit this, even to himself, was that the most motivating factor in his feelings were not the above, but something entirely separate. It was Sora. Sora was his savior, the center of a glowing aura that radiated hope, kindness, and bliss. Sora's affable nature made the brunet easy to love.

Morals he grew up on reverberated across his mind, sedulously beating down his desires. In his public consciousness, he would never allow for this side of himself to be seen. In private, he would aguish over his thoughts and feelings. He was loosing grip on his self-control, his discipline. This, he had sworn to himself, could, should, and would never happen. Society would never accept him.

But nighttime was a different scene altogether. It was as though thin gossamer had draped itself upon his dreamland senses. His vision, taste, smell, haring, and touch were all dulled with a mental aphrodisiac that seemed to be laced in his every dream. Each unconscious moment was another chance for his resilient heart to beat down his mind's remonstrations, allowing dreams of a certain bright, blue-eyed brunet boy. His angel.

- -

Sora liked to spend his days on the beach, lounging about in the sand, taking in the view along with the scent of the Paopu fruit trees. It brought him a sense of extrication. Although he knew he would receive a scourging for skipping his classes, expecially so close to the end of the school year, he just couldn't help it.

He loved the Paopu. As if their star-shaped, purple forms were not already rare enough to the island, tourists were always trying to filch them off their perches upon the trees, especially after hearing of the Paopu's fabled abilities. However, the tourists failed to understand that purple Paopu were not the ones of the legend and that it was only the yellow Paopu that were.

It is said that sharing a Paopu fruit with someone would forever intertwine your fate with his or hers. Young lovers who honeymooned on the island were especially fond of this tale. The islanders were lucky the visitors' stays were always transient, for if the island had not been as dangerous as it was, always being trampled by the angry feet of unforgiving storms, the Paopu would surely be stripped from the trees and forced in to extinction.

_And that would certainly be quite the loss, wouldn't it?_ He thought, closing his eyes as he felt the high tide at his feet, soporifically lapping at his toes.

"What would be a loss?"

Sora's eyes shot open, swallowing an eyeful of both the radiant sunlight and the startling glimmer of his best friend's silver hair.

"R-Riku!" He gasped after nearly choking on sand, completely caught off guard, "when did you get here?"

"About twenty minutes ago."

"And you didn't _say_ anything? You scared the crap out of me!"

"Well, thank you so much for the proper salutation, Sor."

"Well, if you didn't have a habit of sneaking up on me, then maybe I would be nicer."

"Soraaa," the boy drawled, "I'm not sneaking up on you. Besides, see all the girls on this beach? Which shirtless silver-haired boy do you think they're staring at? That's right. Me." The silveret puffed his chest up in a mock-blazon manner.

"Kuu, there aren't any girls at this beach; it's just you and me."

"Well, if there were some, they'd all be staring at me."

"Mmmm . . . if it makes you happy then you just keep thinking that, alright? After all, self-confidence and pretty-boy-style asset flaunting _is_ just another salutary boost to your ego."

"Aww... it's so cute when you try to use big fancy words with me."

"Just because _you_ are stronger than me doesn't mean you get to pick on me all the time."

"I'm not picking on you, Sor! It's love!!" The silveret sang, tackling the younger boy in to the sand.

_If only you knew. . ._

Now why did Sora think that an extinction of Paopu fruit would be a loss? That's because he had a little secret fantasy that he's always kept locked deep inside his heart. He wanted to share the Paopu with Riku.

Another reason as to why the Paopu was so rare was because only one yellow fruit grew on the island every three years. There were distinctly four trees on the island and three of the four trees grew only one yellow Paopu every three years, each of the three trees alternating in the years in which they would produce the single, oddly colored fruit. One tree was planted on each of the four sides of the island. The Northern, Southern, and Western trees all produced yellow fruit. The Eastern tree, however, was never seen to bear anything but giant leaves that were ideal for shade. Under this tree where Sora and Riku had decided they would always be. They always knew where to find one another when they were lost.

Secretly, Sora had picked this tree because he wanted to see if the lesser-known half of the legend was true. This legend stated that although the yellow Paopu were known to be the fruit that intertwined destinies, it was the blue Paopu that would intertwine the destinies of the sharers' current and future lives for good. Since the other three trees produced yellow Paopu, it was only reasonable, Sora thought, that this last tree would be the one that produced the blue variation of the fruit. If two people shared a blue Paopu, every reincarnation of the pair would inevitably find each other, no matter how far apart they were. In a way, the blue, star-shaped fruit would bond two souls together for the rest of celestial eternity.

Some of the younger villagers had said this portion of the legend was just a vapid story created to entertain the dreamers of the island.

Sora was a dreamer.

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Thanks for reading!

_Je t'aime beaucoup!! ~Minikimii_


	2. Unsuitable

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. 'Nuff said.

**IMPORTANT: **This fic is updated every two weeks, but only when school is in session. X3

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**Unsuitable**

"It's the first trip of the summer and you're already going to be late, Riku!" Kairi teased through the phone, only adding to agitation that the silveret was feeling. Putting the girl on speaker was like castigating the entire population of Destiny Islands. Most people didn't believe that Kairi's voice could get any more annoying than it already was, but less than one minute on speaker phone with her would most definitely change their mind.

"Well, ya know what, Kai? I'm trying to. Do you think I'm gonna go step outside wearing nothing but a pair of baggy jeans? No, I'm not!"

Riku heard a jumble of half-muttered words on the other end of the line.

"What was that?" He called out to the open room as he haphazardly flung another shirt from his closet on to the bed.

"Nothing."

"No, seriously, Kairi. What did you just say?"

The redhead sighed, "I said, 'I know a few people who'd enjoy that.' "

Riku only had half his torso in the shirt when her words registered and prompted an idea, causing him to nearly scream, "Kai, you're a genius! Seriously, I could kiss you right now if I wasn't gay! This is an island and I'm quite decidedly and positively male. Plus, I need a darker tan – so why not go shirtless?"

Yes, Kairi knew Riku liked men. She'd been keeping his secret since the eighth grade when she'd asked him out and gotten denied. Some days, she wished she'd never pestered him in to giving her a reason as to why he didn't like her back. Now, she was the only one he could go to about his boy problems. Well, more like "Sora problems". She knew about those issues too and kept her lips constantly fettered when asked about Riku's orientation by any outside party.

"Well it's about time you finally recognized my superiority. But there's a little problem with your logic; there's no way you can get a tan at night. And if you do this, you're going to get ogled on the street. I know some men who can't help but take a good long stare at you even when you walk by fully clothed," she laughed, "so don't come crying to me when some forty year old guy tries to cajole you in to his car by saying he's got some candy in his pocket."

"You know what, I'm going to hang up now before your head becomes any more swelled than it already is. I'm surprised you can even dress in the morning with a head like that. Do shirts even fit over your cranium in the morning?"

"Well, Kuu," she laughed, ignoring the insult, "I always say that a bit of megalomania is good for you. Ok, so maybe not for you in particular, but it is for other peop-"

"Goodbye, Kairi," he shut the cell phone brusquely, only catching the beginning of a slew of protesting remarks.

The teen crouched down and rifled through the shoes that were piled in the far corner of his closet. Somehow, he could only find one shoe for each of his two favorite pairs of sandals. Typical. Well, at least the sandals were the same style, just one was black and one was white. He might be hanging out with Sora shirtless, but he wasn't about to run outside barefoot. Maybe he could get away with wearing the mismatched shoes if he wore them like he meant to look that way. Yes, he could definitely do that. He was the immutably gorgeous Riku Shirogane, after all.

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The street lights shone with a dully happy orange glow. The groups of rowdy, yet somehow polite teens paraded down the street. First came Naminé with Kairi and Tidus, and then Pence and Olette, the two groups of people running back and forth between booths of carnival games that lined the street. Off to the side was Roxas staring at a cart of fried tofu, trying to decide whether or not her wanted garlic soy sauce with the bag that Axel had just bought them. Yuffie and Selphie (best friends and cousins that were visiting for the Islands on vacation for a week) had somehow managed to disappear in to the night, probably tracking down where the most corrupt dart-throwing stall was, just to knock the vendor's ego down a few pegs like they did the summer before. Those girls had ninja skills and energy beyond the capabilities of any normal teenagers.

"Je m'ennui," the silveret sighed, causing the short brunet under his arm gave him a confused look which prompted him to explain, "it's French. 'Ennuyer' means bored. It's similar the English word 'ennui' that expresses a boredom felt when one is disinterested or has nothing to do."

"Well, uhh.. okay? Thanks for the vocabulary lesson?"

"You're very welcome."

The two fell in to a languid silence. They were lingering around the back of the group, not quite wanting to join in on the supposed fun of throwing darts at water balloons pinned up in a wooden board eight feet away. Selphie and Yuffie found their target. Last time they were within the girls' reaching range when they found a stall, they'd nearly yanked off Sora's arm while babbling about how the game was really a "ninja training activity" that they all had to "get in on the training before it was too late". The girl was crazy.

Going out shirtless that night had proven to be useful for his ego after all. Riku had already formed a mob of fangirls that were trailing him two booths away. Of course, nearly half of them were Axel's fans and that was because the redhead's long, spiky, gravity-defying hair was already a marvelous sight within itself. That hair and tear-shaped tattoos under his eyes plus the form of a petite blond boy under his lightly muscled arm made only increased their numbers and excitement.

Any other girls who were stalking them were probably there for Hayner and Tidus, because both teens were good-looking, even Riku had to admit that to himself, but neither was as gorgeous as Riku and Axel. How many boys these days had red or silver hair and especially hair so well cared for? Not many, that was for sure.

"Aren't you going to do something about my boredom?" Riku finally asked, squeezing the arm around his best friend a little tighter.

"No."

Riku could feel the heat rising off the brunet's blushing face as had pulled the younger boy closer against his side; against his bare skin. He rested his head against Sora's, surreptitiously pressing his nose in to the brunet's hair, inhaling the scent of Sora's shampoo.

"Coconut," he thought, "how… Sora."

He turned his attention away from the scent and refocused his attention to the blushing boy in beside him.

"C'mon, Sora," he nearly cooed, "let's ditch everybody. I don't really want to play carnival games right now. They're all happy enough in their own little word, aren't they? Besides, I've been meaning to hang out with just you for a while now. Why don't we just slip out of the crowd?" he whispered against the younger boy's ear. "I promise it'll be fun."

"Riku, you know Roxas would eat you alive," Sora chided through half-gritted teeth and gently shoved his best friend's bare shoulder. "He doesn't really like it when you randomly kidnap me. Besides, the whole point of today's trip was to get Roxas to confess his feelings for Naminé."

Riku sighed.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, Nami's not exactly hanging out with Roxas much, is she? She's with Hayner right now and she has been the entire trip."

Sora shot him a look that would have been the equivalent of shorter boy's reaction to hearing that his best friend had committed a heinous crime. In his head, the brunet had contrived a plan to finally bring twin brother and Kairi's younger sister together. They were idyllic together, looking every part like the perfect couple teenage girls dreamt about being part of. Both were blue-eyed blonds with thin frames and angelic faces. Kairi had even agreed to help him with his plan over the phone, but she had ended up glued to Tidus's side throughout the entire trip. And there were other setbacks. Naminé didn't show any partiality to Roxas and the blond male wouldn't leave Axel's side.

"Tell me, Sor. Are you seriously trying to set them up? No straight male goes around trying to set his friends up. Playing matchmaker is no sinecure. Besides," Riku's voice suddenly dropped to a more solemn tone, "it's no use trying to push two people together when one of them isn't interested; when they don't suit each other. It just doesn't work that way... "

"Riku, what are you trying to say–"

"Hey, Ax!" Riku abruptly called to the group standing under the streetlight. The redhead swerved his head to the pair's direction, the red spikes dancing like flames.

"Yeah, Riku?"

"Sora and I are gonna take off now–"

"No, we're not!" Sora protested, but to no avail.

"– so tell Roxas not to bother trying to find us and that there's no ransom fee!"

"If you promise to get me some fireworks in the next week, I'll make sure Roxie here doesn't try to eat you alive when he finds out you've kidnapped his baby brother. Deal?"

"Wait a second... " Roxas began when he heard his name, unable to finish his sentence as he watched Riku grab Sora's slender wrist and run off in the direction of the Eastern beach.

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Thanks for reading!

_Je t'aime beaucoup!! ~Minikimii_


	3. Unwishable

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to the almighty SqEnix.

**IMPORTANT****:** This fic is updated once every two weeks, but only when school is in session.

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**Unwishable**

"Riku, slow down! You're gonna pull my arm off!" Sora yelled to the silveret dragging him by the forearm down to the Eastern Beach.

"Don't worry, silly, your arm won't come off! It's either this or having me carry you."

Sora blushed and mentally noted not to complain again. If someone saw him upon the back of his silver-haired best friend, they might assume something. And that assumption would most likely question his sexual preference.

The moonlit sparkle of beach sand and gently wafting breeze that bathed him in the scent of the salty ocean made him lethargic. Running away from the man street in town was a lengthy distance, but at least there were few cars out. People on the island did not like driving Friday nights. Somehow, the tourists picked up on this little oddity and instead of desecrating the beauty and cleanliness of the air on the Islands, they came to visit the main road by foot as well when the end of the week rolled around. Walking by foot to the festivities was something that was as natural as breathing for almost everyone on the island. Newcomers (although there were few) were easily swayed in to the custom as well. After all, who wouldn't enjoy a night of food and fun with the entire Island? It was like a one giant party everyone was invited to. There was practically no reason not to go unless you were sick, because if you didn't like someone, you wouldn't have to see him or her because the main street was so huge.

Eventually, Riku kidnapping Sora once every four trips had become a tradition as well. Although the kidnapping was an infraction upon Roxas's unspoken Laws of Loving My Family and Me, the older blond twin did not hate Riku for it. Roxas had told Sora himself that he actually didn't mind Riku and actually liked the silveret's company. That made Sora feel a bit guilty about hating on Axel, but that blazing hate would come back whenever Axel took Roxas away from Naminé.

Some nights - and especially on crowded nights like this one - Sora was glad that there was a getaway for him. The image of relaxing island life was deceptive. There was the constant drama that seemed to drape itself over the small island community. The tight knit community was stifling and the majority of the people would prate on about almost anything, and were constantly vigilant about their punctilious eloquence rather than the message their words were conveying.

Although the color and general livelihood make it nice to live on the Destiny Islands, frequent storms made Sora question why his parents had ever thought that living in a tropical climate was a good idea.

Sora's aching limbs were soon allowed to rest and he finally settled in to the sand beneath their paopu tree. Riku had stopped running and had collapsed onto the sand beside him, bare chest glistening with sweat. They lay on the ground, each ceremoniously taking their respective spots under the tree, those spots being the ones that had breaks in the ceiling of leaves that allowed for a view of the sky at the right angle. These gaps were good for more than just laying down at night. They were angled in such a way that any time of the day - except for the two hours before and after noon - the sky would be visible and the sun would not burn your eyes out.

"The sand's gonna stick to you, Kuu."

"Yeah, I know."

The older boy laughed, rolling on to his side and reaching a lazy arm over to tousle Sora's spiky chestnut locks. He ran his fingers through the soft, wild strands purely out of habit.

"Hey, don't do that now!" Sora laughed as he swatted a hand in Riku's direction, "you'll get sand in my hair, too!"

"Silly Sor, you're already laying in the sand. There's no point in trying to keep yourself so clean," the older boy pointed out, making Sora feel slightly crass.

Riku then rolled on to his stomach, chuckling as he coated himself in the white powder of the Eastern Beach. Laughing, he rolled back and forth, applying a sand suit to his bare torso that contrasted his pale, marble skin in the moonlight.

"So, Kuu," Sora ventured, "why did you drag me here?"

He waited a few minutes for an answer. He refrained from turning his head, not wanting to disconcert the arrangement of the grains of sand around their bodies. This position was perfectly molded to the shape of his body now. Another reason why he loved this beach was for its sand. The grains were so fine that some of the bits were almost like powder. If you laid in it long enough, you could almost sink in to it. Rock was supposed to be stalwart, but it was like the presence of the barren paopu made anything possible. Although it never bore fruit, Sora subconsciously knew the tree bore something different: miracles.

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

"Umm . . . " the brunet trailed, "The paopu tree? I blanked out . . . "

He chuckled and murmured, "that's so like you, Sor."

"Hey!"

At the sound of Riku's sparkling, clear laugh that the younger boy loved so much, he lowered his eyes a bit. Trying not the let the blush forming on his cheeks to become any more prominent than it already was harder than he liked. He did not want Riku asking questions about his sexual preferences. Although he wanted to come out to Riku, Sora was sure it would end their friendship. How would the silveret react if suddenly his best friend of fifteen and a half years were gay, and especially if his best friend was attracted to him?

How would he ever explain the attraction? Maybe he could just tell the proud older boy the entire truth. Maybe if he told Riku about the beginning of the magnetism he felt toward the other male all the way to what he felt now, the silveret would understand. After all, Riku's older brother, Zexion, was bisexual and dating his own gay older brother, Demyx. Maybe the fact that Riku did not seem to care about Zexion and Demyx being together meant something? Or it could just be him acting as the supportive younger brother that wanted his older brother to be happy. With Riku, that was definitely possible too. The entire subject of his feelings for Riku made him feel vulnerable and he hated it.

"Wouldn't it be the most amazing thing if it went right?" he thought, "if the feeling was mutual?"

Suddenly, his best friend's voice drifted in to the air and questioned, "what would be amazing if it goes right? What are you talking about?"

"Uhh . . . n-nothing, Kuu," Sora stammered, horrified that he had spoken his thoughts aloud once more. He really needed to break that habit.

"Well, if you say so . . ."

Riku sighed and turned back toward the sky, his arms folded around the back of his head while Sora smiled with relief. He was grateful that nothing else seemed to have been heard by his best friend. If anything important had slipped, it would have been disastrous.

Sora and Riku turned back to the their spots through the leaves. Six minutes passed before either one of them said anything. Sora had almost blanked out again and was staring into the ocean of lights, seeing but not really seeing at all. It was Riku who finally broke the silence.

"Hey, Sor."

"Yeah, Kuu?"

"Look at the stars tonight."

Sora stopped spacing out and looked up with clear eyes this time, letting out a tiny gasp as his eyes and brain processed what he was seeing there. Tiny, bright beacons of light that were usually mitigated by the Islands' festive streetlights were now bright orbs that were sprinkled across the sky in different sizes and concentrations. Although a few leaves of the paopu tree obscured the outer rims of his vision, he knew it was a gorgeous night. It was almost as though the sky was in its own paopu picture frame and only Riku and Sora could see them.

"It's . . . beautiful," he breathed, heart skipping a beat as he realized he was sharing yet another moment like this with Riku.

"Say, Sor," the said boy began.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever heard of the story of the three soldiers Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal?"

"No, I haven't."

"Legend says that the three were best friends from childhood and became soldiers together. Tragedy separated them from one another, nearly permanently breaking their friendship. Of the three, Sephiroth was the lonely soul. Some people called him the "ice heart" because he nearly never smiled or showed enthusiasm for life if he was without his two friends. Genesis was fire, for he carried a strong passion in his heart and in his books. He was a scholar and a poetry-lover. Angeal was their balancing force, the middleman and sometimes compared to lukewarm water. He kept the two from hurting one another when Genesis became angry.

"Friend was pit against friend when Genesis was driven to insanity by the pressures of war and began killing without qualms. Sephiroth and Angeal tried to stop him, but Angeal was pulled into Genesis's entourage. He was too kind to hurt Genesis."

"I didn't know you were in to Astronomy," Sora whispered, embarrassed that he had missed such an important detail about the other boy in their years of friendship.

"No," Riku laughed, "just some of the old tales around the island. You learn a lot from listening to some of the older folks talk.

"Anyways, the ending of that story is unclear. Different people tell it differently, but my favorite version is where Somehow, the almighty Goddess banished Angeal and Genesis to the stars of the night sky, separating them from each other and the rest of humanity's afterlife.

"Some time later, Sephiroth went insane from the loss of both his friends. As revenge on society, he pillaged village after village, not of peoples' valuables, but of their lives. Eventually, Angeal's disciple's disciple - yeah, it's confusing, I know - killed Sephiroth and gave him final peace.

"After Sephiroth's death, he joined them in the heavens. He was so content with finding peace at last that he, of his own free will, turned in to a star as well and joined them in the night sky. The years turned and the three stars never saw one another in the night sky. But on one fateful night, against all odds, the three crossed paths in the skies. Overwhelmed with happiness at the reunion, Genesis's and Angeal's original stars began to shine brighter, their memories reacting to the restitution of friendship from Sephiroth's arrival."

"So what was the point of this story?"

"Well, I wasn't finished," Riku laughed, "There's more."

"Really? Tell me!"

"Well," Riku chuckled, "they say that on nights when you can see the Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth together in the sky, any wish made between friends will come true."

"Wow."

Riku laughed again, rolling around in the sand once more, but this time none of the grains stuck to him.

"They're in the sky now," he whispered, pointing up at the sky and dragging his finger across the air, pointing to the far left, the middle, and then the far right.

"Then why don't we make a wish, Kuu?" Sora suggested, almost waiting for Riku to laugh and call him silly.

"Okay," Riku smiled and turned to face Sora, shoulder-length hair splayed around his head in a small moonsilk halo, his reply stunning Sora slightly, "let's make a wish. What should we wish for?"

Sora was silent, not knowing whether or not he should wish for what he truly wanted or change his wish to make sure Riku's would come true. If a wish between friends meant a wish for something that affected their bond to each other, then Sora knew what he wanted. But if that was not the case, then Sora was sure that he could just change his wish to fit Riku's. Could he make two wishes?

"I don't know. What do you wish for?"

"Let's just make our own wishes and wish for the other person's to come true then."

"Okay then, Kuu."

The two laid on the beach for a few moments longer, toughing out the cold before they got up and began their trip back to the main road once more to rejoin their entourage on their weekly festivities.

"I know it's stupid and childish," Sora thought, "but I wish that Riku could be mine."

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Thanks for reading! Reviews very much appreciated. -grins-

_Bisous,  
~Minikimii _


	4. Unreasonable

Disclaimer: Sqenix owns Kingdom Hearts.  
You may have noticed that I deleted chapter two and merged it with chapter one. For the people coming back to read this chapter four that have already reviewed for the old one, just review chapter one instead.

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**Unreasonable**

Riku laid in the hammock on his back porch, admiring the sun outside. Sora was busy with a summer school project today and would be working on it with Kairi all day. Something about translating the slowly dissipating legends of the Island into Spanish for the travel brochures the Island would put out for foreigners vacationing there. Whatever. Sora's explanation had too many long winded sentences and confusing fragments for him to make heads or tails of the situation.

_The cheapest labor is free labor._ he chuckled mentally.

Mundane island life could always be cheered up by the company of a few good friends. While Sora was over at Kairi's on a perfectly good Saturday, he'd invited Axel and Roxas over. Sure, Sora was his best childhood friend, but having other relations wasn't unheard of or frowned upon, was it?

There was a knock at the front door, but the silveret stayed where he was. No need to get up if they could just walk around to his back porch.

"Kuu," he saw the lanky man sporting a set of red hedgehog spike atop his head call in his mind's eye, "come out here and open up the door!"

"I'm out back," he called, settling into his hammock a bit more comfortably. He chuckled as he remembered the way Sora used to be afraid of falling out of them, always clutching onto the edge in a vicegrip. Only clumsy and corpulent individuals fell out of hammocks. Sora's smaller frame would never tip one over.

He smiled as he heard a pair of footsteps come around the from the front sifting softly through the sand of the Southwestern Beach. The whole stretch of this section of the island was beach that was divided into the Western and Southern halves. Although people generally said there were four parts to the beaches on Destiny Islands, the two beaches were practically merged as one, only thinning slightly as the Southern portion curved up into the west.

The flaming head of hair reared the corner before the boy himself did. He was walking backward and talking to a sarcastic Roxas that was chastising him for wearing such a 'tacky' brand on the street when he worked at a store with clothes aimed at highschool skaters. Hand motions flying left and right, Axel explained quite animatedly why he was wearing the brand.

"Oh, come _on_, Roxy," he laughed, "Oh, it isn't _that _bad! Besides, you work at that goth lolita store! Seriously, all you get are little emo crossdressers and fangirls." Axel cringed. "Plus, your manager only ever talks about her little bunny plushie and the propper ettiquite her workers are supposed to have in his 'Divine Kingdom.' "

_Uh... Axel, it doesn't matter what you try to say. Those shorts **are**pretty bad and I don't see how where Roxas works has anything to do with it. _Riku chuckled to himself. He adjusted his body from his laying position to a sitting one and propped his bare feet up on the table before him. The two-o-clock sun shone happily, and he smiled, thankful for the good weather.

"Axel, what you're wearing is for people who walk around in public in their pajamas," the blond argued, crossing his arms, "and for people who are too sad to know what matching is. Seriously, I mean, their clothes are just so... _bland_."

"As opposed to ribbon-laced dresses and frilly parasols?" Riku interejected, watching Roxas's face drop a few feet.

The redhead suddenly turned around and strode over to Riku. He kicked off his yellow beach sandals and plopped down into the hammock beside the silveret, grabbing the blond that had come with him and pulling the younger male comfortably into his lap.

"Tell him, Riri," the redhead instructed as he rested his chin on the blond's shoulder.

He rolled his eyes at the ridiculous nickname while Axel chuckled.

"No further comments, boys," Riku sighed, grinning, "I only shop online."

Roxas squirmed a bit and Riku saw a blush pinken his face before he managed to slide off somewhat with only his legs draped across both Axel and Riku's laps. It wasn't long before Axel managed to pull the blond into his lap again. Roxas rolled his eyes and sighed.

"They have a great employee discount, alright, and I happen to love everything they make where I work!"

"Even the dresses?" Axel's eyes sparkled. That particular glint in his eye meant that Riku was having dirty thoughts about the the younger boy again, probably involving a gothic maid outift with a whip and cat ears. Not that Roxas would ever consent. Although it was blatantly obvious that Axel was attracted to his best friend (if pulling the boy into his lap repeatedly was any indication) he was too afraid to ask. And because of Axel's flamboyant nature, Riku had been afraid to tell the flamer that he was gay. Of course, with Kairi's big mouth, he was sure that she'd probably leaked to the redhead. Even a person with an impaired gaydar could tell that Axel batted for the other team.

"Ok, so maybe not everything... Okay, so maybe not alot of it," Roxas admitted. "I'm sorry that I like to pick clothes from different brands! Jeez."

The blonde crossed his arms and shoved somewhat angrily into the flat chest against his back, hoping to injure the grinning redhead behind him. Axel on cushioned the hit by flexing his abs and then wrapped his arms around Roxas's waist. Axel grinned triumphantly, only to have Roxas slide off his lap completely and sit in his own space on the hammock. The redhead was unfazed by the loss and simply faked a yawn and draped both his arms across the shoulders of the two males beside him.

"And now I've got a lovely flower on each arm," he chuckled, "and I can see why the tourists like it here."

Riku and Roxas both nudged him at the same time. Well, more like Riku nudged him gently while Roxas elbowed quite painfully. Long after Riku had stopped, Roxas continued to stab his elbow into Axel's side. The redhead doubled over, leaning against Riku and laughing.

"R-roxas!" he forced through almost stilling his quivering diaphragm, "quit wenus-stabbing me!"

The blond suddenly stiffened and made what was his equivalent of what would have been bursting into a fit of giggles: he gave Axel a single audible laugh.

"Wenus bumping aside," Riku smiled, "what's been up with you two lately?"

"Meh. Don't wanna go back to school," Axel leaned back, his arms still around both boys' shoulders.

"Not much."

"Yeah I expected as much from you, Roxas, but school isn't for another whole summer. Why are you worrying?" Riku sighed as Roxas bumped Axel's hand that was resting on his shoulder, making it flop up a little bit and fall back down on against his skin as it rested there.

"Nah, just felt like saying it," Axel shrugged, "I'm gonna be a senior next year, Riku. I'm supposed to complain while I can get away with it without getting a boot to the head!"

The silveret laughed.

"So what do you guys wanna do?" Riku asked, leaning forward to grab his sweating glass of water from off the table before him. The hammock moved and Roxas's shorter legs kicked up in an attempt to keep his balance. Riku felt Axel's arm move to stabilize the blond. If that didn't say anything to Roxas, it sure screamed paragraphs at Riku.

"Well, I called Dem and asked him to bring Zexy with him. They should be here right about-"

"RIKU!!" a cheerful voice called from the front of the house, "we're heeeeeeeeere!"

The three simultaneously arose from their places on the back porch. Roxas and Axel went around the side of the house to greet Demyx and Zexion, Riku fished a silver key from his pocket and unlocked the back door to get inside. Walking across the short way to the front door and unlatching it took a mere half minute. Demyx walked in first, crazy blond hair bouncing, followed by his boyfriend who sported lilac-tinted silver hair with the most intense set of bangs anyone had ever seen since... well, since forever.

The blond stepped a bit clumsily into the house, instantly making a beeline to the right for the the kitchen. Meanwhile, Zexion simply nodded to Riku and murmured a greeting as he followed the energetic blond into the kitchen.

"You shouldn't be going through someone else's fridge..." the shorter boy started. The argument was lost on Demyx.

"Hey, Riku, can we have the Sea Salt ice cream bars?"

He smiled. It didn't matter how many times Riku would go out and buy more of the ice cream. Whenever Demyx came around, the box an two more would be gone by the time he left.

"Yeah, sure, Dem."

The blond grinned and pulled out the box of bars. He pulled out one for each person, only Zexion took one out of his hand and placed it back in the freezer.

"Don't want one," he explained simply. Demyx just smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

Riku smiled. Demyx was lucky, really. He was the oldest of the three siblings (Demyx, Sora, Roxas) and no one really cared that he was gay. Actually, Riku and Axel had been there as Demyx's moral support when he and Zexion came out to their parents. Demyx's mother just began gushing, "Well it's about time you two got together and actually _told _me! Promise me you'll adopt, okay? Or a surrogate mother for your babies wouldn't be too bad of an idea. That Larxene girl still lusts after you, right Zexion?" The boy had responded politely saying something resembling "she's moved onto Marluxia now. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to have babies whose biological mother liked electrocuting bugs for fun."

Demyx had been lucky, yet Riku wasn't sure if the same enthusiasm could be extended to her other two sons if they were gay as well. He simply didn't know if Selene as mother would be able to cope if all three of her sons were gay. Not that Sora had shown any preference to the male gender...

_Sometimes, I wonder if he even sees anyone in a romantic light._

"Hey, we should go play Sitar Hero in your room!" the blond suggested, snapping Riku out of his reminiscing-turned-contemplation.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed.

"To the Rikucave!"

The others all either rose an eyebrow or face-palmed.

"What?" the blond questioned "You get it right? It's like the batcave... just cooler!"

- -

Riku lay flat, stomach to his bed, as he watched Demyx rock out to Simple and Clean on the toy Sitar. Zexion hummed along in his surprisingly musical voice like he always did, no doubt memorizing the lyrics perfectly and maybe coming up with a harmony to accompany it on the next run. Those two had met in a Music Theory class that was being taught to a small handful of musicians on the Islands by a famous composer vacationing for inspiration. Demyx was in the class because he loved music while Zexion was in it because he simply wanted to know more about everything and anything. Somehow, even though the two had been acquainted before, the pegs had finally fit in that class and the two were inseparable since.

"Yes! One hundred per_cent_!" he yelled, punching a fist into the air.

From outside the room, Riku's ear picked up the sound of knocking.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back."

And even though they protested, saying that it was his turn, he left. Down the hallway, he could see the setting sun from the kitchen window, the beautiful orange glow lighting the trees with a certain serene glow. Breaking his eyes away from the beauty, he turned to unlock the front door.

"Riku!" the bundle of energetic brunet crashed into him, his small, still slightly round face planted firmly against the silveret's chest as he squeezed the living daylight out of him.

"OhmigoshyouwillnotbelievewhathappenedatKairi'shouse!!"

Riku blinked.

"What?"

"Kuu," the brunet said, whining and straining the taller male's name as he pulled on the boy's arm relentlessly, "You will _not _believe what happened at Kairi's house!" Riku smiled patiently. "Kai and I were working on our brochure and all of a sudden, Nami-"

"Hey," a voice suddenly called from the hallway, a swaggering man following closely behind the sound, "Dem and Roxy took your turn. Better get yout ass back in there, Riri, brfore you lose it."

As Axel stepped out into the open space and Riku could see Sora's facial expression shift from one of excitement to anger.

"_What_," Sora growled at the redhead, "are _you_ doing here?"

The redhead instantly held up both of his hands in a 'Don't Shoot!' manner, and offered the brunet an apologetic smile.

"I'm here with Roxy."

Sora huffed a sigh at the use of his brother's nickname. He hated it with the fiery passion of more than a mere one thousand suns. Try one thousand millon. And it wasn't the fact that it was a nickname, nor was it the nickname itself that irritated the boy, but it was the fact that _Axel _of all people had come up with it and Roxas had _liked_ it.

He continued to glare at the older male, eyes shining with a sort of suppressed violent rage Riku was surprised such a tiny body could even contain. The truth was, if he could change anything about Sora, anything at all, it would be so that the boy wouldn't hate Axel.

"Sora, please..." he tried, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

Sora continued to glare at Axel for a good (or godawful, however you like to see it) two minutes before he made any sound.

"Fine."

And with that, the brunet turned on his heels and left. There was no slamming the door or angry protesting yelling, just the simple click of a closing door. In some ways, that was worse than a violent reaction. He heard the pounding of sneakers on dirt road start abruptly and slowly fade away from hearing distance. Riku lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, smoothing his fingers over his eyelids.

"Hey, Ax, I'm sorry," the silveret started, "you know Sora. He's just-"

Axel offered him his apologetic smile and waved a hand in Riku's direction before it landed on his forehead along with his dismayed sigh.

"Hey, it's fine..." he murmured, "and you should be following him."

"Ax, you know it's not fine."

_Sora can wait a few seconds. I know where he's going._

Riku walked over to the other male and patted his shoulder. They stood beside each other, not facing one another, but looking beyond both their masculine shoulders. Slowly, Axel's head slumped down to rest on Riku's arm.

"I just," he sighed, "I just wonder how I'm ever supposed to do anything about Roxas if Sora's always like that. I'm too afraid to say anything when Sora hates me like that."

_I was right._

"Axel, I think I can hel-"

_Speak of the Devil._

"Hey, Ax!" Roxas called from Riku's bedroom door, "Seriously get in here before Zexion and Dem start making out! I don't wanna watch them attempt to procreate."

The redhead straightened up and rubbed his eyes. He cleared his throat and smoothed down his shirt twice over with his palms.

"Roxas," he called, careful that his voice wouldn't crack, "two guys can't have a baby."

"I _know_ that, Ax," he groaned, "that's why I said 'try.' "

Riku smiled and nudged Axel by the shoulder.

"Just go to him."

Axel returned an identical expression and ruffled the shorter boy's hair and whispered "alright, but make sure you go after Sora too" and turned to face the hallway to Riku's room.

"I'm leaving the keys with you." Riku pulled out the silver metal from his pocket and folded them in the other boy's burned, scarred palm. "Just don't lock me out." And with that, the silveret stepped out of the house and shut the door.

"What was that about and where's Riku going?" he heard as he stepped onto the street. He paused to listen to the rest of the covnersation. It never hurt to have a back up story if he needed one.

"I was just talking to him about the fireworks he owes me."

"From when he _kidnapped_my brother?" Roxas snorted. He could almost feel the blond corssing his arms and glaring at Axel, "Yeah, Riku's cool and all, but he really needs to stop taking Sora!"

_Damn, he's loud._

"Aww, Roxy, don't be like that!" An Axel laugh. He heard a heavy thud and jumped slightly. Axel must've pin-glomped the other boy to the wall.

"Hey, don't touch me there!"

"What?" he head the redhead chuckled, "it's just your chest."

Riku's heart clenched at the ease of the pair's interactions. He was still too afraid now to even joke with Sora like that anymore. Since he came to terms with himself regarding his sexuality and his feelings for Sora, he'd been too careful not to do anything out of the ordinary. Actually, it had been about that time that RIku had befriended Axel, the boy one year his senior. Part of him knew that Sora probably hated him for that, but it was too late to rewrite the past.

_Ugh_, Riku shook his head, _I just gotta go find Sora. It's getting cold soon and I know the Eastern Beach can be freezing at night. And what if Sora catches a cold? it'll be because I was hanging out with Axel, the guy he dispises more than Death. Augh, if that happens, I won't forgive myself!_

With renewed conviction, the silveret headed off toward the other side of the Islands, running.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that and I'd love it if you'd read and review. I'm putting this fic on bribery status meaning if I get enough reviews and I'll update. :D

_Bisous,  
Minikimii_


	5. Unmanageable

Disclaimer: SqEnix owns Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

**Unmanageable**

Even though Sora had gotten the head start, Riku soon caught up with the boy less than halfway on the run to their beach. Sora was trudging along at an unbearable pace only rivaled by a crawling baby. Still, he was reluctant to reach out and touch the brunet on the shoulder. Various hypothetical outcomes of his actions swirled around in his head like angry hornets, driving him to a soundless, empty sorrow. Would Sora ignore him or would Sora reject him? What if Sora began to hate him? What if-

_I'm being silly,_ Riku sighed to himself. _He can't hate me. We've been friends since before we were in grade school._

Stealth had always been Riku's forte, but he didn't bother trying to hide his footsteps as he followed the brunet, sounding every bit like a novice in soundless walking. The brunet didn't respond and instead seemed to disavow the silveret's presence altogether. Instead of turning around, Sora continued walking until he reached the opening to the main road. It was Wednesday night, so none of the bright, festive lights were glowing. The empty stands made for a lonely atmosphere, as if all forms of life had been expurgated save for the two best friends.

That was when Sora had turned around, the light of the setting sun striking his face with the most dramatic shadowing and theatrics it could possibly muster.

"Why do you have to be friends with him?"

Riku momentarily lost his balance as the question approached him from the air. Why did Sora have to ask _that_question? Of course, if was bad enough already that the brunet's best friend was extremely close to his mortal enemy, then it was only worse that they'd hang out once he was gone. His shoulder slumped dejectedly at the thought while silver strands fell across his face shamefully.

Sora began veering off the main path and toward a bench along the side of the road. He sat down, relaxing into a puddle of lackluster unwillingness. Even still, he hung his head and didn't bother to look up when Riku finally made his way to the space beside the brunet. The silveret didn't dare sit down. Instead, he stood until Sora reached up and pulled down his arm to join him.

"Why do you have to be friends with Axel?" he repeated, his face still cast to the floor and the tone of his voice betraying the truth of his culpable version of the redhead in his mind.

"Because he's a good guy-"

And all at once, Sora cut him off again, voicing nothing but his own suppositions, ignoring Riku's effort to slip in his own positive word for one of his best friends.

"All he ever does is hit on Roxas and you think he's a 'good guy?' He's always following Roxas everywhere and constantly at his side, calling him by those _stupid_pet names like 'Roxy' and 'chocobo head' whenever he gets the chance. And the way he looks at Roxas isn't even the appropriate way for a guy to be looking at another guy! He's keeping Roxas and Naminé from being together! He's being selfish and uncaring about the entire thing and you're on his side!"

On the street, random pedestrians glanced over at the egregious pair on the bench, hushing whispers and stares. Most of them were the locals and merely sighed at the sight of Sora becoming emotionally impassioned.

"Sora…" Riku sighed, exhausted.

The need to feel a stable surface supporting his weight overpowering his previous irresolute want to sit down as he finally took the seat beside his best friend. He placed a hand on the brunet's shoulder in an attempt to abate his anger. Riku noted that the boy's normally unruly brown spikes had devolved into a slovenly mat of blown hair from the sweat of the Island's summer sun.

"Sora, Axel's not a bad guy. He's actually–"

"And now you're taking his side!" Sora stood up and shouted at his best friend. "You're on his side and you're against me! You're against _me_, Riku." Sora's slim arms shook with barely repressible anger as the realization of his words set in. "You chose him over me."

With those last words, Sora collapsed into a torpid heap on the bench. His body was angled away from the silveret's who was currently looking somewhere off into the distance, his body void of the conviction he had shown only moment before.

"Sora," the older boy scooted closer to him on the bench, wrapping an arm around his torso, effectively drawing the brunet closer to his body, "I'm not choosing him over you. We're best friends, you know that. I don't want you having the wrong impression of Axel. He's a good person, really."

"But R-roxas…"

"Roxas doesn't care that his best friend is gay for him."

Sora drew in a sharp breath. There it was. Riku had actually said it. His breathing began to grow frantic and frenzied, and he stood up again, walking only a few feet before collapsing onto the ground where he sat dazed, all traces of his evanescent anger gone.

"Sora!"

In a flurry of motion, the silveret was kneeling beside his friend. He began reaching out to the boy, but stopped as Sora leaned away from his touch. Unsure of what to do, Riku simply sat with Sora in the dirt, self-consciously playing with the hem of his pants while constantly keeping an eye on his best friend.

From their shared seat on the ground they watched the light turn to night while the ground and the air above it grow colder. Wordlessly, Sora stood up and begun heading back to where he'd come from. Riku hastily scrambled to his feet and followed the boy until they reached the fork in the road that separated the path from his own house and Sora's house. To his great astonishment, Sora took the left path – the path to Riku's house.

The silveret wanted to say something to the younger teen but found that no words were needed as Sora dropped back to his side when they neared the house. Silence and darkened windows met their eyes and ears and he heard Sora heave a sigh of relief.

Taking the two short steps up to the front deck of the house, Riku bent over and retrieved the key Axel had left him from its place above the light by the door. With a soft smile, he beckoned Sora to join him, his smile growing to a grin as the shorter teen accepted the invitation and stepped through the open door before Riku.

Making his way down the hallway to the space between the back door and the entrance to Riku's room seemed to resuscitate Sora's mind somewhat. The teen stopped and turned to face Riku's room, sulking against the frame of the door. The silveret quickly joined him there silently.

"I'm sorry."

Riku turned and stared at the boy beside him, disbelief coloring his face. Did Sora just say...

"What?" he asked, his face leaning toward the brunet as he spoke.

"I said," Sora sighed, obviously hesitant, "that I'm sorry. About earlier. Being moody."

"That's good to hear," the silveret murmured, unable to think up any other kind of response, "Roxas and Axel will – "

" – but I'm not sorry about Axel," he clarified, cutting off the silveret. "I don't want to talk about it right now, so let's just… let's just do something else, okay?"

An awkward silence filled the air as the words parted from Sora's tongue and lips. The two boys looked away from each other, unsure of what to do next. Finally taking decisive action, Sora walked past his best friend and into said best friend's room. Riku nodded and followed the brunet into his living space, a nearly emotionless smile on his face. If Sora needed to take his mind off things, then Riku would be there for him until he was satisfied.

Sora took the still hooked-up plastic instrument for Sitar Hero and pushed the power button on the game console. The TV screen whirred to life and Sora already began his song selection. Only a few steps behind him, Riku took the other Sitar and sat down on the bed.

"What song do you wanna play?" Sora asked, the cheer in his voice was forced, but Riku was just glad it was there at all.

"I'm thinking 'Why' by Ayaka."

With a smile, Sora manipulated the controls of the game and selected Riku's choice song. The silveret didn't focus on the game much as he was more preoccupied with watching the hints of an angered expression seep out of the features of the younger teen beside him. Sora's eyebrows scrunched in a different way when he was concentrating and his tongue would inevitably stick out to the right of his mouth whenever he became singularly focused on something.

Confident that Sora finally had his emotions under control, Riku returned his attention to the game, humming along lightly with the tune that came from his TV's speakers. By the end of the round, Sora had pushed Riku in the side, pouting about how the older boy 'always won' whenever they played. Riku joked back saying how Demyx had gotten all of the instrumental talent in their family and that Sora probably had a better chance playing Karaoke Revolution than anything else.

The pair flipped through the list of songs again playing everything available while singing along badly to the ones they knew by heart. By the time Riku's fingers were sore, Sora was already back into his happy bubble of passionate joy.

The silveret's stomach grumbled so he set down the long-necked plastic instrument on the bed and began to exit the room.

"Hey, Sor, I'm gonna be right back. Do you want something to eat or drink?"

The brunet turned toward the doorway, fingers freezing in the middle of a song, his bright eyes glistening happily in the nighttime mood.

"Sure," the boy chirped, "just get me whatever you're having!"

With a smile and a nod, Riku ducked out of his room and headed to the kitchen. Taking the phone off the wall, he dialed Sora's house number and waited three rings until Demyx picked up.

"Riku," he smiled into the phone, "hey! I trust my little Sorrie is okay in your home?"

"Yeah, he's doing fine. Is it alright if he sleeps over tonight?"

Along with the chuckle, he heard three sets of male voices talking in the background. They must have gone to Sora's house for the night instead.

"Yeah, it's fine if he stays at your place. Mom wants me to tell you that she says yes, thanks for calling, and that she trusts you even when both your parents are away. Is that good enough?"

"Yeah," Riku laughed, "that's more than just good enough. Anyways, I'll bring Sora back to you sometime tomorrow, alright?"

"Alrighty!" Demyx chirped. "Bye Rii!"

"Bye, Demyx."

_Click._

Setting the phone back into its place, Riku turned to see Sora leaning against the wall with a freshly opened water bottle in his hands.

"You were taking too long," he explained as he took a small sip from his bottled drink.

"Sorry," Riku smiled apologetically, "I just had to call Demyx and tell him you're here."

Sora chuckled, his eyes sparkling as he did so.

Instead of returning to Riku's room, the two of them raided the freezer for some fast pizza. Riku pulled out the box along with the single bar of leftover sea salt ice cream from the box that Demyx had eaten earlier that day.

"Well, don't they just assume that I'm over here every time I go MIA?" Sora asked as he took the pizza box from Riku's hands and began undoing the cardboard.

"Yeah, but I _still_have to call, Sor. That's part of the tradition too," Riku chuckled as he punched in the time and temperature on the oven and slipped the pizza onto the rack in the oven space prematurely. "The big kids take care of the little ones!"

"Hey, I'm not that small anymore," Sora protested, bumping Riku in the side as soon as the silveret had safely closed the oven's door.

Although he hadn't dodged the first one, Riku was able to avoid the second by running quickly around the island in the kitchen and to the living room. Sora chased after him, pouncing the other boy onto the couch and effectively flipping it over from the combined weight and force of two teenage boys.

"Jeez, Sor, I take that back…" Riku rubbed his head, brushed his shoulder-length silver hair out of his eyes, and fake-winced. "You're not so small anymore. In fact, I think you might need to lose some weight before you give me a concussion!"

"Pftt!" Sora laughed, " and this coming from the guy who weighs about twenty-five pounds more than me? That's just _so_ convincing."

The two lay in a heap on the floor, laughing and not bothering to return the couch to its original upright position. Slowly, Sora got up and ran a hand through his puffy brown spikes, popping his neck and turning to the wall beside them.

"We should watch a movie."

Riku stood beside the boy, stretching his arms toward the ceiling, yawning in agreement. They soon decided on an old Disney movie (because Sora just couldn't get enough of them) and the brunet was charged with readying the DVD player in the Riku's room as the older boy got their dinner together in the kitchen. By the time Riku had sliced the pizza into eight portions, Sora was ready and watching the TV from among a mound of pillows and the upturned couch.

The hilarity of Sora's set up situation almost made Riku choke on his water.

"Is that a… pillow fort?" he gasped, coughing into his fist, mid-dying, mid-laughter.

Sora grinned up at his from his spot on the floor, his still only slightly round face pulling into a childish grin.

"Yup! The kind Demyx makes all the time," he chirped. "Now get over here, you're making me nervous."

Complying with Sora's wishes, the boy settled into the fort. Sora crawled up next to him, throwing a blanket he had stolen from the guest bedroom over their legs as he pushed play and the movie came to life on screen. With a contented hum, Riku leaned only slightly closer to Sora and readied himself for another classic night of Disney Magic.

* * *

I know it's seems like I picked it up and dropped it, but look forward to more Beachly Fun and a night out on the town soon! I promise that I haven't forgotten about those details! :D

_Bisous, Minikimii_


	6. Unallowed

Disclaimer: SqEnix owns Kingdom Hearts.  
I'm excited about this chapter... :)

* * *

**Unallowed**

The lights of the Islands' summer festivities shone upon the groups of islanders and tourists hoarding space along the main Island road. In the middle of the stretch, a group of teenagers lolled their way through the parallel lines of booths, taking their sweet time as they examined some new wares the usual merchants had brought along with their usual stock. The group was short several people from the festival before, Yuffie and Selphie, for the girls had gone back to their homes on the mainland of Atropos. Naminé, Kairi, and Tidus had decided they didn't want to spoil their summer by repeated visits to the festivities and had opted for watching a movie at the local theater instead. After all, Tidus had movie passes and who in their right mind would give up a gratuitous offer to go see a movie with Tidus?

Song lyrics blared out from Axel's iPod, the earbuds split between him and Roxas with just barely enough give so that they wouldn't go popping out of each other's ears. The two bobbed along happily, and anyone within a three-foot radius of the redhead could probably tell that he was resisting the urge to dance along to the rocking melody playing in his ear. Several feet behind the imperious couple, Sora trudged along grudgingly, his arms crossed and his eyes glaring barely sheathed rapiers intent on drawing blood at the older redhead.

_Oh, if I had the power to get those two away from each other..._

His eyes narrowed into slits as Axel slung an arm across his younger brother's shoulder, bringing the shorter boy into a playful head locked noogie. Sora's vision became blurry as his glare narrowed as thin as it could get when Roxas began laughing and pushed the redhead's fist away from his hair in an affectionate manner. Even though it had been nearly two weeks since the incident at Riku's house, the sight of his little brother and the redheaded flamer together made his insides boil.

"Sora, please, just calm down."

The brunet looked up and over to the female voice who had spoken: Olette. The uneven tips of her brown hair flared as she tossed a glace toward Sora and held it there.

The slim brunette was currently hooked to the arm of her recent boyfriend, Pence, and was happily sharing an ice cream with the other teen. Pence wasn't exactly what most girls would call their prince charming (seeing as how he was a round kind of boy, slightly overweight with messy brown hair and a talent for gaming and mathematics), but he had somehow charmed the bright Olette into becoming his. Although the girl was plain in appearance, she often wore dressed with what would have looked like an excessive amount of orange on most people, but seemed perfectly fine when she put the color on. Her accepting demeanor along with her bright eyes and gentle smile made Olette easily likable and Sora could see why the two were together.

"Calm down?" Sora rolled his eyes, his invective rant sprouting into full bloom. "Axel's all over Roxas again! He just doesn't know when to back off. It's so _irritating _that he doesn't get the message. There's absolutely no way that Roxas ever could like men!"

His vision was swept back up toward the front of the line as he heard Riku laugh from a few feet ahead of him and clap the reprobate redhead on the back. Instead of clinging to the silveret's side like he usually did, today Sora had decided to stick with Roxas's so-called best friends; he hadn't really hung out with them very much since he'd met Axel. And much to his dismay, Riku had opted to join the larger half of the group that sadly consisted of the third of Roxas's friend group, Hayner, and the infamously hated-by-Sora duo, even after their argument and the sleepover from two weeks before.

"Why are you so against the idea of them being more than just friends?" Olette sighed, Pence now staring intently at the younger boy with her. "You didn't have a problem with Demyx being gay and picking Zexion as his boyfriend, so why the cold shoulder when it comes to Axel?"

_Because it's not fair to mom if all three of her sons turned out to be gay._

"Because I don't like his character," Sora lied through his teeth, hoping that the couple strolling beside him wouldn't pick up on his deceit. "And it's hard enough already to see how Demy and Zexy are treated by everyone else on Destiny Islands! They're lucky because they don't care that more than half the population of the Islands - including their ex-friend group - hate them and treat them like shit! Demyx is too bubbly for that and Zexion is just... Zexion. He doesn't let those things drag him down." Sora sighed. "I just don't think Roxas could handle it..."

"He's alot stronger than you think he is," Pence stated efficaciously, popping the cone-shaped end of the sweet treat into his mouth.

Sora quieted down and turned his gaze shamefully to the ground. Maybe Pence was right? He was one of Roxas's best friends after all, and as much as Sora hated to admit it, he wasn't close to Roxas in the same way that these two were. Offering the pair an apologetic smile, Sora sped up his walk and went to join the four people ahead of him. As he left, he heard the beginnings of gossipy and covert conversation from the couple.

"So what do you think about those two?" Olette asked her boyfriend. "You're not a homophobe like Xemnas's and Seifer's groups, I know that much. Are you pro Axel and Roxy?"

"Flamer and Chocobo Head, huh..." Pence cocked his head to the right as if in thought. "As long as Roxy doesn't get his hair singed, then I see no reason why they can't be together."

He winced at the casual use of Axel's nicknames for Roxas by his best friends. If that didn't irk him enough already, the fact that Olette had even brought up _their_ names was enough to make him want to run to the Eastern Beach and spend the night there on the sands.

Xemnas and Seifer were the leaders of the local gang and bullies respectively and both groups were very adamantly against gay rights and acceptance. In fact, it was from Xemnas's motley group that Demyx and Zexion had sprung after they connected on a romantic level during the Music Theory class they had both attended. Axel had followed them in their leaving soon after.

Seifer's group, on the other hand, was constantly bothering, picking up where their older counterparts had left off, targeting Roxas as his three friends all for the rumors of Axel the Gay Boy Lover becoming a sort of older sibling for their group. The blond bully always wore a scowl on his face that screamed the need to see blood.

And if it was possible, Sora hated Seifer more than Axel.

"Hey, Sor, everything okay?" Riku asked as he passed the younger boy his bag of fried calamari. Sora took the offered bag and stabbed one of the rings with a double-pronged toothpick.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The sweet sauce that the seafood had been dipped in spread along his tongue bringing an involuntary smile to his face.

"Liar."

_That certain ruined my mood._

Sora looked up at the boy beside him, stopping in his tracks as the silveret stared down at him angrily with chiseled features until he cracked.

"Alright, alright," he sighed, "I was... talking to Olette and Pence about Axel, and..."

"And?"

Sora looked down at his feet. The pair was now reasonably separated from the rest of the group and standing in the middle of the road, facing one another. The decorative lights from around the

"And those two like him. They're pro Axel and Roxas together."

"Sora," the silveret patted his best friend on the head with a soothing hand, "even if you don't like the thought of those two together... his friends approve and support him. I think it would be really hard to oppose Axel when everyone supports them."

"So Axel _does_ like him."

"Yeah," Riku nodded.

Sora pouted.

"Roxas isn't gay though! Seriously, there's no way Roxas could ever like Axel in any way. In fact, I don't even get why those two are friends! Seriously, they don't mix at all. They don't have any classes together at school and Axel used to be part of Xemnas's gang. You can't get any farther away from Roxas than _Xemnas's gang_. XEMNAS, Riku..."

"Yeah, I know that Sor," he sighed, "but Axel isn't part of that group anymore. He's different... don't you know about the burns on his palms? It's because he tried to leave the group. He only succeeded because he had to stand becoming badly burned by his own fiery pyrotechnics as a punishment for 'abandoning the group in the favor of a couple fags.' "

"Wh-what?" Sora stared at the older teen, his eyes widening in shock. "You mean..."

"Yeah, Sor, he told me himself. Hell, Demyx and Zexion were there when he told me. How do you think Zexion got that scar on his cheek? He didn't always used to wear his hair across his face, ya know."

"Oh."

And for the second time that night, Sora was shocked into the kind of silence he never wanted to be a part of. Most of it was from the shock of hearing the actual story of Axel's past come to life, but the tipping factor was Riku becoming impassioned over something. Riku _never_ got like this.

Before Sora could form a response from his inner bedlam, Riku turned on his heel and left for the Eastern Beach. Sora was left to stare dumbly behind as the silveret turned and gave him a meaningful look back to the brunet and stomped off the beaten path.

"Ri...ku?"

He felt a pressure on his shoulder and turned to see Axel standing behind him. He looked down to see the scarred tissue of Axel's fingers, their mottled appearance sent shiver through Sora's body. He looked past the redhead to see a teary-eyed Roxas and his other friends watching wordlessly. The words 'so that's what happened' echoed from Roxas's whole being, but the blond was too proud to let a single drop of saltwater fall from his face. Hayner stared at the pair before his awkwardly white Olette leaned her head on Pence's shoulder, smiling kindly at Sora as he stood in the middle of the road, shaking.

"How long were you standing there?" Sora whispered, staring at the five people that had been silent behind him.

"Long enough, Spiky, " the redhead replied for the entire group.

The others nodded, confirming that they'd heard plenty.

" You should run after Pretty Boy."

Sora frowned.

"Why should I listen to you?" _Even though you're telling me exactly what I need to hear right now?_

Axel looked down at his sandal-clad feet, staring for a good long minute before he looked back up and straight into Sora's sapphire blue eyes.

"Please, Sora," he tried, using the brunet's real name instead of the ridiculous nickname he'd picked out for the younger boy, "trust me this time... If not for you, for him. Please, just do it."

Swallowing his pride, he nodded and began heading off toward the beach. The sun finally dipped behind the horizon and Sora set his pace off into a fast run. Riku had gotten the head start and was probably at the beach already.

_'If not for me, then for Riku.'_

The words bounced around in his head, reverberating off the walls of his skull with every pounding, running step he plunged into the earth.

_Axel, you can't possibly mean..._

- -

Sora finally reached the Eastern Beach, huffing and panting for air. A few feet off, he saw Riku in the sand beneath the barren paopu tree sedentary like a statue and lazily chewing on the toothpick he'd been using to eat their shared bag of calamari with.

Tentative steps and legs trembling from both exhaustion and humility collapsed into the white sands beside his best friend, marking their collapse in the sand. Sora could see the silveret shift in place as his skin brushed and rubbed the fine grains, but Riku didn't turn to face him.

"I'm sorry," Sora began, apologizing for the second time since summer had begun.

He looked like a god. His silver strands of moonlight hair seemed more brilliant than the stars and sands themselves. Beside Riku and his land was the gently lapping ocean, pulling bits and pieces of him away forever to accrue on some shore miles away. **(1)** Above the beach and its ocean, the sky was dark and spotted with a dazzling white brighter and more beautiful than the meager shine streetlights could barely muster.

"The stars are gorgeous tonight."

Without being asked, Sora knew this was an implied invitation. He scooted closer to the boy beside him, the sands around them cooling in the gentle, breezy air.

"Yeah."

He scooted closer to the other boy and laid his head on the silveret's arm. Sora could feel the older teen stiffen and slowly move to wrap his arm around the brunet keeping them both warm and comfortable. There was no need for words as Sora snuggled into Riku's torso, angling his body so that it pressed ever so slightly against Riku's. The silveret stiffened once more, blinking and making his gaze into the paopu leaf opening shatter and flicker. The cotton of Riku's shirt curved into a upturned smile as Sora pressed his lips against his best friend's torso to smile. Riku must've felt the contact as Sora tried his best to inhale his best friend's scent, but the brunet didn't care.

_Because this is the way we're supposed to be._

* * *

**(1)** Riku's name means "land" or "earth".  
For every review, Riku has another dirtay thought about Sora.

_Bisous, Minikimii_


	7. Unmentionable

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to the almighty Square Enix.  
So I wanted to update this earlier but since this is something I'm writing for Language Arts, I had to wait until the teacher assigned it to write it. Sad, right? Anyways, I'm glad I got this chapter out because NOW the plot finally advances. -laughs-

* * *

**Unmentionable**

The smell of masculine spice, the sound of gently lapping waves, the feeling of blanket warm around his shoulders, holding him close as he lay, filled his senses. Even though he was aware of what was going on around him, the actual processing of information hadn't come through his mind yet. With a sleepy sigh, he snuggled closer into his warm, toned pillow. He hummed happily as the warmth around him drew him closer so he pressed himself against the column of heat and snuggled closer. The dulled spice he had inhaled earlier soaked his skin until he was dizzy with its pleasuring scent.

Just as he was ready to fall back into his comfortable sleep, the warmth around him began moving so that he lay partly on the sand. The tiny grains buried themselves into his leg and his soft sides, the discomfort forcing him to finally crack open his eyes to the sound of his best friend's voice.

"Sora… Sora, wake up!"

The brunet roused to the feeling of his pillow shaking and trembling in an irregular pattern. The sheer gloss of sleep quickly disseminated from his eyes to reveal Riku staring straight at him, his color-shifting, blue-green eyes shining with amusement.

"K-Kuu?" he asked.

A yawn sprouted from his lips followed by a sneeze. He only mused that it was probably due to the lack of bodily warmth around him again. He quickly covered his face with his hands, blushing slightly as Riku began laughing and made an offhand joke about how cold it was on the beach in the mornings. Around them, the sands glistened in the morning sun, clinging to their clothing and hair as the two males stretched skyward to awaken their bodies.

Pointing a finger toward the sky, Riku nodded toward the lofty paopu leaves. Sora followed the invisible line that extended from his best friend's finger to see a salient, whitish-greenish-yellow spot from far away within the leaves. He squinted and tilted his head toward his best friend's, another sneeze forcing its way out of his face before he registered what the blob was:

A paopu fruit.

"Riku!" he sneezed, rubbing the bottom of his runny nose with back of his right finger to stop the itchiness, "Is that what I think it is?"

The older male stood up, his hair shining in its impeccably perfect place as he turned to face Sora again. The brunet could feel his breath hitch as when the piercing eyes met his, and he was forced to look away and pretend he hadn't had such a reaction before a blush invaded his cheeks.

"I bet so," the silveret replied, grinning as he pulled Sora up off the sand by the arm.

Sora couldn't help but return Riku's look of giddy joy as he looked up to face the silveret. Just as Sora was about to straighten his standing posture, his foot met a particularly lumpy hill of sand and slipped. Unfortunately, Riku caught him, and suddenly their faces were too close to be called platonic.

They held eye contact, both of their expressions brimming with excitement at the contingent prospect of watching a paopu from the supposedly barren tree sprout into something no one had ever seen before. Sora blinked twice and realized their noses were barely touching. His face reddened as the silveret began to lean forward, his breath lightly brushing against Sora's lips.

So the brunet reacted in the most inappropriate way possible: he sneezed all over Riku's face.

- -

After the two left the beach, Riku and Sora had parted ways to go to their respective houses. The minute Sora has stepped through his front door, his mother had rushed up to him and pressed her forehead against his. Following the brief, two-second diagnosis, Selene had declared her 'baby boy' sick and was to be fed nourishing food immediately.

Which was exactly why he was tucked into his blankets at the moment while his brother stood beside his bed holding all the things their mother had thrusted at him to carry upstairs.

"Sora, there's a reason I don't like it when you stay out really late," Roxas chastised. "You of all people should know not to fall asleep on the beach. And who even gets a _cold_ in the summer? You bring a whole new dimension to the argument against 'idiots are too stupid to catch colds'."

The brunet looked up at his fluffy-haired younger sibling and smiled brightly. Roxas rolled his eyes and set the bowl of soup, packet of cold medicine, and water on Sora's nightstand.

"Just pop that into your system and feel better soon okay? I'll be downstairs with Axel if you need anything."

Sora could feel anger flicker across his features at the mention of Axel being in his house, but he was able to catch it at the last minute and turn his face slowly into a neutral, somewhat cheerful expression. Even though he was sure the look was only temporary, he didn't think Roxas had missed his little slip-up. Well, at least Roxas didn't acknowledge it. With a grateful 'thanks', Sora waved his brother away and out of the room.

After his abstemious stomach had been satiated, he downed the pill and glugged the water in to his system and let his mind wander back to what Riku had said the night before about Axel's past. The little bits and details floated to his mind easily, settling as he measured their individual worth and merit.

He still hated to admit it, but the fact that Axel had those scars added to his status as Roxas's best friend were weighed against his doubts. What kind of brother would he be if he did everything he could to Maybe Axel… maybe Axel wasn't so censurable after all. The only thing that worried Sora was Axel's association with Roxas. When added to the animosity Xemnas's gang already held toward the flamboyant redhead, Roxas could become a target.

But Roxas was safe as long as he stayed on this side of the Island, right? After all, the tourist areas didn't have many gang issues. It was mostly the East side that had any violent occurrences at all.

Although The Organization (Xemnas's gang) didn't exactly indulge in pernicious actions on a daily basis, whenever the gang decided on a goal as a whole, the situation could be counted on to hold casualties – and those casualties were more often than not outside of The Organization itself. And with Seifer's self-appointed Disciplinary Committee already after Roxas, Sora couldn't afford to allow his brother to be placed in any more danger.

So he was finally letting the trust he'd previously only momentarily felt for the redhead grow into something more. And since that trust was a roundabout way of showing that he approved of Axel and Roxas…

"That means Riku and I can't–"

"Sora!"

Suddenly, the silveret burst into the room, falling to his knees beside Sora's bed as he successfully crashed Sora's train of thought. That train only went up in flames as Riku began apologizing in small waves of murmured words.

"I'm sorry about you getting sick because I had no idea we'd both fall asleep at the beach and when you woke up and you were sneezing, I thought it was just because you were cold and not because you _had_ a cold and I was so stupid to just let you–"

"Riku."

The silveret shut up immediately, laughing at himself for rambling on while Sora sat there in a light daze of stumbling incomprehension. He rubbed his temples, smiling as he settled back into his pillow filled bed contentedly.

His room was nice. At least, that was what Kairi had said the first time she had stepped inside. A little extra emphasis (or perhaps not enough emphasis?) had been stressed on the word 'nice' which had caused Sora to snort softly. It didn't really matter to him if Kairi enjoyed the room or not. As long as Riku was willing to spend the sleepover night in it, then it was good enough for him.

"Uhh…" the silveret trailed off, "Roxas thinks the cold is affecting your thinking."

"What?" he asked.

Truthfully, Sora was a bit distracted as he was promptly staring at the sheen gloss of sunlight on Riku's hair. Before he realized how long he'd let himself admire the moonsilk locks, the silveret caught his eye looked away awkwardly, clearing his throat and blushing.

"Roxas thinks you're delusional because you didn't go off on him for having Axel over. Is it true? Did you really just let them hang out without a fight?"

"Yeah," Sora corroborated, flashing a brilliant grin.

"Yeah?" Riku repeated.

Sora looked down at his hands, his muddled mind not making much sense as the words just slid their way out of his mouth.

"Just… just taking it in, ya know?"

"That's good."

The silveret got up off his knees and sat at the foot of Sora's bed. He fiddled with the blue bed sheets, his eyes cast down and away from his best friend. With uncharacteristically gauche movements, Riku shifted until he was staring directly at the brunet snuggled into the bed sheets.

"Sora, I came here for more than just checking up on you."

_Oh dear Lord, no…_ Sora thought desperately as if his thoughts could somehow influence his best friend's actions. _Please don't talk about this morning… please, Riku, I don't think I could take it._

"Y-Yeah?" he ventured. "What for?"

Riku hesitated, sighing. His expression suddenly became serious, his blue-green eyes settling into a mood Sora had only seen a select few times in his life – and all of those times involved Riku's best a worst trait: his need for answers.

"I wanted to talk to you about this morning."

But the moment those words left his lips, Riku was fucked. The slighter teen sat up abruptly, his eyes wide in panic.

"Please, don't talk about that!" the sick boy rushed, coughing slightly at the end of the exclamation.

He pushed his palms forth into the air as if to stop the words before they reached his ears. Without realizing it, he'd squeezed his eyes shut to block out Riku from his optical sensory. Sora cracked a hesitant eyelid open to see a stricken look cover the other male's face. The shock that radiated off Riku was palpable to a degree that instantly shamed him. Without stopping to listen to the beginning of Sora's amending protest, Riku shot out of the room fast enough to leave a gust of wind behind with the echoes of his footsteps.

Although he would've loved to chase after Riku, the moment the brunet stood up, a sweeping headache invaded his senses and forced him back down into a sitting position. From downstairs, Sora could hear a few concerned shouts and the slam of his front door. The moment the sound began to shake the walls of his house, Axel and Roxas were already heading up the stairs at breakneck speed to Sora's room.

"Sora, what the hell happened?" Roxas demanded as soon as he stepped into Sora's bright beach themed room.

"I-I… I… I can't… I can't!"

He repeated is as if it were the only response he had ever inculcated into his mind. Roxas's worried expression only became more severe as the answers he desired were withheld from him. The blond swept across the room and fell onto his knees, shaking his older brother by the shoulders as he attempted to get an answer out.

"Sora!"

With Roxas's bright blue eyes boring straight into his, Sora could only shudder and fall silent, tears falling over the edges of his eyes and caressing down his cheeks. Just before the brunet was ready to burst into sobs, Axel entered the room and intervened. Although the redhead stepped beside Roxas and told him to get up, the younger brother remained. He placed a steady hand on the flustered blond's shoulder and pulled him back so that they stood together beside Sora's bedroom the door.

"Roxas," he whispered, urgency painting his voice, "he needs space. Let me handle it."

The youngest male stood up angrily, crossing his arms and glaring at his best friend.

"But, Ax, I'm his bro-"

"Which is why I'm going to help him instead. Please."

The blond hesitated, but finally back out of the room, shooting his best friend a meaningful, searing glare before ducking out of Sora's immediate vicinity. As soon as Axel was sure the youngest sibling had left, he took the seat beside Sora on the bed, not too far yet not too close; he was ready to do whatever was necessary to help out the sobbing brunet.

Sora's crying soon slowed down and the sounds of his own sobs cleared away from his aching head, leaving space for contemplation. Why did he push away Riku so suddenly like that? Riku was the best friend he was secretly in love with almost since the moment they met as children years ago. Riku was the one who had always joked with him about why he didn't have a girlfriend or why he hadn't asked Kairi out yet. Riku was the one who he had spent more nights with at sleepovers than he had alone for the past seventeen years of his life. Riku was…

Everything.

So why did Sora push away his everything?

Finally, he brunet wiped at his dried tears, smiling joylessly at his own stupidity. He wasn't allowed to like Riku because Roxas needed to have a chance with Axel. Why be selfish? He wasn't going to be a selfish person anymore, hadn't he already decided that the night before? He was going to put aside his feelings and let his little brother try out a relationship with the flamer sitting beside him. After all, the two of them had been nothing but good to him while he treated them like shit. All he had to do was let go of his feelings for Riku.

With a miserable sigh, Sora flopped down onto the bed, his arms sprawled out to his sides. Next to him, Axel turned and sat cross-legged on his bed so that his body was angled toward Sora. They sat, neither attempting to make eye contact as they sat listening to each other's breathing. Finally, as the silence reached around the ten-minute mark, Sora looked up at Axel and spoke.

"I think Riku tried to kiss me at the beach."

He watched the understanding slowly seep into Axel's body.

"And?" the redhead pressed on.

"And he can't," Sora stated simply.

The brunet stared up at his ceiling, admiring the white stars his mother and Demyx had painted onto the navy blue years ago as part of his beach-themed room. It was the beach at nighttime. It was his and Riku's beach…

"Why not?"

And on the wall was painted a lone paopu tree, whose billowing leaves had extended to the ceiling, beside his bed was so that he and Riku could share nights under the stars even when they were indoors.

"Because."

And the small space that would open directly above his and Riku's faces as they fell asleep on Sora's mattress that opened up for the perfect view of the Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal constellations.

"Because…"

Because he had to let go of his feelings for Riku.

"Because I'm not allowed to fall in love with him."

* * *

So what do you think? I'm pretty alright with this chapter. There's nothing I hate but nothing I love about it either. Anyways, the chapters I've been wating to write since this story was conceived are coming up soon! Hopefully, you'll enjoy them too.

_Bisous, Minikimii_


	8. Unattainable

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to the almighty Square Enix.  
Alright, so even though I left that note that I wouldn't be updating, my teacher assigned this on Monday. :) It took away from the study time so now I'm behind schedule but I have tomorrow to catch up anyway. -laughs-

Please enjoy!

* * *

**Unattainable**

To be honest, the withdrawal was killing him.

Riku hadn't seen so much as a blink of or heard so much as a peep out of Sora in so long that at times he felt like the brunet had forgotten all about him. Axel, however, was always in his peripheral reminding him how Sora was just confused and how they were both just unfortunate men in love. With the faithful redhead by his side, Riku was able to relax a bit as he got daily updates on how Sora was coping without the silveret holding his hand all the time.

On the flip side of things, Axel and Roxas seemed to be getting along very well. After the outburst from four days before, the couples was finally able to reveal to Sora that they had indeed been together in secret for a long time. After coming out to Sora, the pair went to Selene, Roxas and Sora's mother, to deliver the news. Instead of crying and screaming and other such dramatics, Selene had instead smiled scintillatingly and told the two she already knew. According to Axel, she turned to look Sora in the eyes and asked, "Do you have something you need to tell me too?" To everyone's surprise, Sora had cried this time. He locked himself in his room for a few hours and didn't come out until he was mad hungry from all the sobbing he'd done.

While the brunet was gone and away from his life at the moment, Riku spent his time thinking. His mind ran from things like Sora and the happy (not really) household to the relationship between Axel and Roxas to the slowly growing paopu fruit on the Eastern Beach.

In fact, that was where he was now – laying down at the Eastern Beach, staring at the small, whitish fruit hanging just over twelve feet from his face. He offhandedly noted that it hadn't grown since Sora had last been there and seemed to be shriveling up somewhat since their argument.

Over the past few days, Riku had spent his free time lounging about, wondering in the back of his mind if Sora would absolve himself of the guilt he felt for causing Roxas and Axel pain. The other half of the time, however, was spent contemplating his own cupidity regarding Sora. Even though he'd tried to stop himself before, he knew that Sora had picked up the implicit romantic meaning of his words, responses, actions, and habits. Sora had probably just brushed it off as the fact that they were both teenagers (even if they were nearing seventeen and eighteen) with hormones that still raged beneath their skins. It was hard, really, to stop himself from thinking about Sora in indecent, morally deleterious ways.

_But I need to hold back now_, he thought with a small sigh of defeat. _He doesn't feel the same way, even though… even though when I woke up on the beach with him cuddled next to me he was murmuring my name. How is a guy supposed to interpret that? And what heterosexual male would cuddle up to another guy in his sleep? Of course, we were out on a beach so it would be really cold and night and I was probably pretty warm, but…_

"Riku?"

The silveret swerved around to the enthralling sight of Sora with his puffy eyes, sun-loved skin, and tousled hair, looking at him with a winsome smile on his face and sincere apology in his oceanic eyes.

"You came," Riku whispered.

He got up to embrace his best friend. The brunet returned the motion, nuzzling his face into the light dip of Riku's neck. With the encouragement, Riku backed away slightly and brushed the tip of his fingers against Sora's cheek, angling his best friend's face toward his as he leaned in closer until their faces were only a few inches apart. Instead of allowing the contact, Sora backed away, holding his hands between both of them in an act to halt Riku's movement. Confused, Riku frowned and crossed his arms.

"Sora, what the heck?"

"I can't let this happen," he explained. "I get it; I _know_ it. I know how you feel, and I can't let myself give in."

Riku frowned. "So you like me?" he asked, sighing. His happy high from seeing the younger teen was quickly fading away.

A contiguous silence followed and the two stood awkwardly beneath the paopu tree. After a two-minute silence (which in Riku's mind was really quite a long silence), Sora finally sat down and leaned against the tree. Without thinking, Riku joined him and cast his gaze toward the sky, Sora's namesake.

"So… Axel and Roxas?"

"Yeah," Sora smiled. "Axel and Roxas."

And that was all they needed to resume their friendship, even if it was changed from the (almost) picture-perfect paragon it used to be.

- -

"Axel, that was my _shirt_!" Sora yelled, laughing as he rubbed hopelessly at the spot of sea salt ice cream that his brother's boyfriend had dribbled onto his clothes. The redhead simply smiled and turned to Roxas.

"Seriously, Ax, you shouldn't flick ice cream bits at people."

Grinning, Axel simply leaned over and pecked the blond on the cheek. Roxas blushed and adverted his eyes. Across the island in the kitchen, Riku looked up from the stainless steel sink. Reflexively, his eyes slid in a surreptitious glance over to Sora. Even though he was laughing at Axel's antics, Riku could still see hints of jealousy in his eyes.

"PDA, Axel! You used to laugh at that before Sora knew!" Roxas half-laughed, trying to set his face into an angry expression but failing miserably. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

"Roxy, you know I only laughed because I couldn't violate you in public. Now I can so I will… and people will laugh at us now." Axel's vulgar statement earned him a few half-hearted smacks from his boyfriend.

"So are we going to leave for the movies yet?" Riku asked, drying his hands on his pants. "We can't keep Naminé and Kairi waiting too long."

"Yup!" Sora chirped, hopping off the barstool and tossing the clean wooden stick from his ice cream in the trash.

With a flurry of motion (and a quick dash of Sora going to change his shirt), the three of them left the house and headed off. As the four made their way to the movie theater, Riku silently fell back from the group and began contemplating Sora of the millionth time for the week. Ever since he'd dropped the sanctimonious mask that being around Axel had once required him to wear, Sora had been more amiable to the man. In fact, Riku was beginning to suspect that Sora would have developed a crush on the redhead if Roxas wasn't currently dating him.

As he let his mind wander, the group reached the theater. Outside, Kairi and Naminé waved at the two of them. Although Naminé was wearing one of her usual white dresses, Kairi had decided on shorts and a spiffy little "I'm Zetta Epic" shirt that Riku had bought for her last summer. The thought that she'd kept it and liked it made Riku's face brighten just a little.

Without waiting for the boys to reach them, Kairi quickly dragged her younger sister by the hand to the others.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted, smiling and flinging herself on Riku in a tight hug. The silveret laughed and returned the gesture. Soon after, he wet to quickly peeling off the hyper ball of femme before it glommed onto him for the next half hour. Luckily, Kairi wasn't put down and simply grinned up at Riku through her auburn bangs.

"Ready to go in? Nam wants to see another chick flick and I kind of already promised her that next time we go out, I'd do what she wants."

The four boys all groaned consent. They knew it was pointless to argue with Kairi and even more dangerous to oppose Naminé.

"Yay!" Naminé smiled childishly, clapping her hands together.

"Now if only you one of you liked females…" Kairi murmured whimsically. "Actually, if only one of you were even available!"

Axel pulled Roxas to his side by the waist and pressed his lips against the teen's unruly blond tufts. Sora on the other hand, shifted around uncomfortably and muttered that he was still straight and single.

No one believed him.

- -

All through the movie, Riku sat uncomfortably his gaze shifting back and forth between the screen and Sora. Axel and Roxas had run out of the theater five minutes into the movie using the excise that Roxas needed to use the restroom and Axel needed to get home because he forgot to do his homework… except Axel had a free summer break and Roxas had already taken his bathroom break just before entering the theater. Riku simply sat contemplating copying the example until he came to an answer.

"Sora," he whispered as he leaned over to his left. "I need to talk to you outside the theater right now."

No response.

"Sora," he tried again. "Sora, are you listening?" Riku began poking the brunet in the arm until the younger male finally turned over, annoyed and squirming.

"Riku," he hissed, "stop it. I'll go with you."

With a small, happy grin, Riku stood up soundlessly and followed Sora out of the theater. From her peripheral, he saw Kairi turn her head and wink at the two of them. Even though Riku smiled sadly back at her, she simply smiled cutely and formed a heart with her hands to look at him through. He mirrored her action and blew a kiss to her at the end and they continued for a few more seconds until someone threw two bits of popcorn at the silveret.

"C'mon, Riku. You're embarrassing me."

Riku did as he was told and followed Sora out of the theater and into the small lobby of the theater. He instantly took Sora by the hand and began leading him toward the exit of the establishment. Unmotivated, the brunet followed without argument. After a few minutes of walking, the two passed the Main Road where the night's festivities were being set up in the purple-orange sunset. They continued to walk until they were halfway on their way to the Eastern Beach.

"So what did you want to talk about, Riku?" Sora asked.

"Us," Riku replied as he stopped in the middle of the road. Sora refused to stop until he was forcibly pulled to as top. "I want to talk about how we've been acting for the past week." At the mention of this conversation, Sora's eye widened in panic and he began quivering on the spot.

"Sorry, Riku, but – "

"Dammit, Sor, stop calling me 'Riku'! What happened to 'Kuu" or 'Ri' or 'Old Man'?" Riku fisted the silver strands of hair that gently framed his face in long, straight strands, pulling frustratedly at the ends until Sora put a hand against his to stop. "I'm still the same guy as before," he pleaded. "Can't you see me? Can't you just please imagine for me how hard it is to watch you almost give in half the time and then shove me away for almost a day at a time?"

"B-but, Riku – "

"Sora!"

" – I mean, Kuu. I know you're the same, and I still care about your well-being and your happiness. Can you just find someone other than me to pursue?"

"Nope," a suddenly voice called out to the pair on the road. "The lamer can't because four of the other five fags on the islands are taken and you're pretty much the last resort option."

Sora and Riku swerved around to see Seifer and his two lackeys, Fuu and Rai, on either of his sides.

"What?" the blond athlete challenged, his overly muscles arms crossed over his chest. "Did I just break up a lovers' spat?" He chuckled barely soundlessly and continued to saunter forward. "So are you going to hit me, pretty boy? Oh, wait, you won't because you don't want to have any of those shiny silver hairs out of place do you, you nasty dandy?"

Now Seifer was merely a foot away from Sora and Riku. He turned to face the shorter boy so Riku instinctively brought Sora closer to himself, clinging the younger male's hand in his own. Seifer chuckled and turned to Sora. Without waiting for a reaction, he took the brunet's delicate face in his hands and jerked Sora's head upward so that he was locked into making eye contact with the blond bully. Annoyed, Sora slapped Seifer's hand away and stood his ground.

"You don't touch me," he warned. "No one touches me."

Seifer let out a simmering growl and grabbed Sora roughly by the chin, yanking the shorter boy closer to him.

"I usually beat on your brother when he misbehaves," he hissed, "but now that he's with that dandy Axel, there's no way I'd fight him. It might be suicide to take on an ex-Organization member, but if I hurt you, then taking on Mr. Model here shouldn't be a problem."

Tears began welling in Sora's eyes as the grip on his jaw gradually began to inflict more pain. An angry flare burst in Riku's chest and he quickly shoved the blond away from Sora.

"I'm not just some pushover," Riku hissed, locking eyes with Seifer. "Don't touch him and maybe I'll let you get away unmarked."

To this threat, the blond simply laughed and leaned in closer to Riku, a challenging glare coming to life in his eyes. Sora, on the other hand, came up from behind Riku and reached over to grip his hand.

"Don't tempt us, ya know? Rai called out from behind.

"Punishment," Fuu supplied, smirking under her silver bangs. (At best she would only speak one-liners.)

"Try me." Seifer smirked as he turned his attention to Sora. "I'm going to make you wish you were never born."

Without warning, Riku leaned forward and sent his fist straight into Seifer's jaw. Before he could watch the bullies' reactions, Riku grabbed Sora's hand and ran. Behind them were the sounds of yelling and someone groaning in pain. The two worked their way past all the familiar routes they had discovered to make it to the Eastern Beach and soon lost their pursuers. Still, they didn't stop running and the two simply continue chugging along an breathing heavily until they found the powdered sands of the East and collapsed onto their oxymoronic grainy softness.

The two shared a moment of silent glee from being able to get away from Seifer's Disciplinary Committee without losing a vital organ or a limb.

"Riku…" Sora huffed out breathlessly, turning on his side to face his friend.

"What?"

"Do you think… do you think they'll come after us?"

Riku sat silently, unsure of how to respond. Giving up, he let his optical sensory take over his mind. The moment he began focusing on Sora's face, he noticed the discoloration in Sora's jaw line. Reaching out, Riku brushed his fingertips along the bruising skin and frowned. Then as if on instinct, Riku pulled the brunet closer to him until they were lying side by side. Miraculously, Sora didn't protest.

"He shouldn't touch you," the silveret muttered as he ran his fingers through Sora's chocolate spikes of hair. Sora's expression softened and he buried his face against Riku's torso, hiding the smile that was creeping onto his face.

"It's okay," he whispered into Riku's shirt. "Let's just forget about it for now, okay?"

Riku complied with a reluctant sigh and settled into the sand under the shade of the paopu tree. That was when the older teen suddenly realized Sora wasn't pushing to get away; he was actually pulling himself closer to the silveret. After the run-in with Seifer, he hadn't exactly been very protestant regarding Riku's actions.

_I think this means we're okay_, he thought. And that single fragment of conscious pondering was enough to make the silveret grin the same way he had before Sora began shunning him.

As they relaxed beneath the paopu leaves, Riku and Sora both took notice that the small paopu fruit above their heads seemed to be growing along quite well.

* * *

Okay, so the chapter I've been waiting to write for almost ever should be coming up after two more chapters. :D Hang in there!!

_Bisous, Minikimii_

P.S. I can has review, plox?


	9. Unpredictable

Disclaimer: Me no can has KH rights. D:  
Note: I'm done with the school year, so I no longer have vocab assignments to push me to write for a deadline. That means this story will be finished at my leisure... X3

Anyway, please enjoy!

**This was posted a second time as a result of my poor planning, so nothing about this chapter has been changed.**

* * *

**Unpredictable**

It was as if Fate was trying to tell him how much of an incontrovertible failure he was when all of a sudden, Axel acted as though he were Roxas's best friend. When Sora had let the redhead into his social circle, he was left nonplussed and slightly disoriented by the way Axel was so ready to simply meld with Sora's personality – especially since he had honestly been looking for some sort of inauspicious sign that the older male still wasn't good enough for his brother.

Then there had been the Riku Incident. After the entire ordeal had taken place and he had spilled his guts all over the floor in front of Axel (metaphorically, of course. The real thing would have been too messy), Sora decided he just didn't know what he wanted. Maybe talking to Mom would help him figure out what was going on in his head; maybe talking to mom could help him fix whatever it was he seemed to have nudged the wrong way.

Sora wasn't sure what to do with his feelings at the moment. After sharing an intimate embrace with Riku at the beach, he was left with a disconsolate hollow settling in his chest. Instead of letting the silveret know that something was wrong, Sora simply ignored the silveret's questioning looks, deciding to sit down on the oddly powdery sand and fall into a comfortable, non-Riku-Incident-related conversation. As much as he would've loved to be able to just let go and give in, Sora was sure that he'd messed with Riku's mind enough times to ensure that he would never have a chance again.

Sora didn't mind getting the second best option of 'best friend'.

(At least, that's what he told himself.)

Sometimes, Sora doubted if he would ever be able to live up to what Riku deserved out of him.

Spilling out the door, Sora made his way downstairs to where his mother sat in the living room, sipping a glass of bright red, apple-pomegranate iced tea and reading a book.

"Hey, Mom…" Sora began. His mother set down her book and turned to face him. "Can we talk?"

"About what?" She asked, making room for him beside her on the couch.

It came out in such a rush that Sora wasn't sure if even he understood what he'd said.

"IthinkI'mgay."

Much to his surprise, his mother just laughed. "It's about time you came out," she smiled, still chuckling slightly. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear this from you."

"Wh-what?" Was his mother _crazy_?

"Goodness, Sora," she laughed, "I've known that you only fancied males probably before you even realized it yourself – you've always been a little slow with people, dear. I've known about Demyx and Roxas too before they knew they wanted boyfriends… I guess I raised you three the way I'd subconsciously planned!"

Gods, his mother _was_ crazy!

"So, tell me, did Riku ask you out yet?"

"Mom!"

She smiled again and settled into a comfortable position on the couch to face Sora. "No, really, did he?"

Sora hesitated and looked away. "… Maybe."

"And you said 'yes', right?" his mother asked gently, her eyes soft and subtly supportive.

When Sora didn't answer, it was an answer all in itself.

"Oh, no… Sora, you said 'no'?"

"Kind of…"

Sora's mother gathered him up into her arms and cradled him close as slow, silent tear sbegan falling down his cheeks.

"Why would you say no? Is it because Roxas and Demyx are…?"

The brunet nodded and snuggled closer to his mother. He felt so childish, running to mommy, crying, but at the moment, being childish felt good.

"Hey, Sora, look at me." Sora did as he was told and turned his gaze up toward his mother's bright blue eyes. "You always take everyone else's problems onto your shoulders and never solve your own. I want you to stop doing that and find yourself some happiness, alright? You and Riku both deserve it."

Sora smiled and looked away. "F-funny…" he hiccupped, "That's what Axel told me a couple weeks ago."

"Ahh… Axel," his mother smiled. "Axel's a smart kid. I'm glad Roxas is with him."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, wiping tears out of the corners of his eyes. "Me too."

- -

A few days later, everything was outwardly fine. When the duo was alone, Riku and Sora felt a sort of awkward tension between the two of them and were slightly relieved whenever someone walked into the room to interrupt their strained, no-longer-comfortable silence.

It's amazing what a single almost-kiss can do to a friendship.

"Sora! Riku! Rox and I are heading out to the festivities and then a movie. You guys wanna tag along?"

Axel's flamingly red head of hair peeked into the doorway. Along with him was Roxas, with his boyfriend's arms around his waist, trying to escape from the vice grip hug he was bullied in to.

"Yeah, sure," Riku smiled back to the duo. Sora nodded along in response.

Really, thank God Axel had popped in.

With a quick wave out the door to Sora and Roxas's mother, the four were off. The walk to the main road didn't feel nearly as long as it had before in the summer. Once again, by the time they'd reached the strings of lights and waves of people, the silver-haired lady-killer's black shirt had come off and he was walking around with a mild sheen of sweat covering his impeccably toned pectorals. A few groups of tourist girls were now stalking them to the main road, oblivious to the fact that once they got there, they would probably lose their pretty boy eye candy in the crowd.

Sora stared dutifully straight forward, trying to ignore the tourist's advances that were aimed at Riku. One group of girl, however, included a male figure amidst their pack. He didn't want to think about _why_ he was doing it, but the brunet couldn't stop trying to subtly lead the group away from them. He might not have had a great gaydar, but the one he had did tell him that this… _boy_… wasn't someone he wanted near Riku.

Not that he had any sort of claim on the silver-haired Adonis…

Oh Gods.

The groups of giggling girls steadily advanced on them. Within moments, the cesspool of femme had surrounded the four males and Sora couldn't have been more panicked and flustered if a flying elephant had decided that his face looked like a nice substitute for a landing strip.

"Go on now," one of the girls giggled, pushing the male forward. "Ask him, ask him!"

_'He's going to ask out Riku…_' Sora thought, a sweeping feeling of gloom falling over his person. '_I hate being aware of how I feel._'

A sturdy-looking man stepped forward. His features were delicate, but sharp, set in a permanent lightly-agitated-yet-aloof expression. His frame was slender and tones, suggesting a hidden strength that contradicted his size. His spiky blond hair jutted out from his head effortlessly, defying the laws of physics with a bobbing rebound whenever one of the girls surreptitiously poked it. Sora guessed that just pretending he didn't notice the female's amusement was a psychological homicide-prevention mechanism.

"Cloud, c'mon! Just _ask_ already!"

Without thinking, Sora closed his eyes and turned away as a new male voice began speaking.

'_Please don't let this be awkward…_'

Then it was quiet. Only the hum of crowded voices surrounded them, and Sora thought his head was going to burst from the tension. Slowly, he cracked open his eyelids only to find the blond staring (not at Riku, but) straight at _him_.

'_OhmiGod._'

"Hey," Roxas bumped him in the side. "He asked you what your name was."

He looked back up with wide eyes and coughed nervously. "I-I'm Sora…" he murmured in disbelief.

"Sora…" the blond stranger tried out the name on his lips, "meaning 'sky'. What a coincidence." A few of the girls giggled, nudged each other and then the stranger, and looked back at Sora with appreciative gazes.

"The locals have such interesting names, " one of the girls smiled. "By the way, his name is Cloud, and I think he wants to ask you something."

Cloud blushed and looked away as he murmured, "I was wondering if your group would like to hang out with mine?" He gestured to the girls that surrounded him, implying that there were enough for the other three males from Sora's group to have one each.

The thought made Sora cringe in disgust.

But before he could reject the blond, Riku stepped forward and slid his arm protectively around Sora's waist.

"Sorry, he's taken."

"R-Riku!" Sora hissed, "What the heck are you doing?!"

"Protecting your innocence," Riku chuckled back softly. Then, he turned toward Cloud and smirked. "Now, unless you want to be missing a certain, _important_ appendage on your body, I suggest you leave my boyfriend and me alone."

To Sora's surprise, the blond walked off silently after Riku's threat without turning for a second look back.

"Dude," Axel came up behind the pair and nudged Riku in the shoulder. "That was totally badass."

Riku laughed and pulled Sora closer to him. "All for my little piece of heaven here, right?"

Roxas and Axel laughed as Sora back away from Riku's hold around his waist. "L-let's just get to the main road, okay?"

The others smiled in agreement and they continued their way down the road to the main street. Soon, Sora relaxed (mostly) back into the warm, slightly humid atmosphere of Destiny Islands. Tuning himself out of the conversation, he watched the fireflies flit about the greenery at the edge of the road in nonsensical patterns. Even with the slight nightly breeze blowing, the small bugs were undeterred in their dance, making from a beautiful – albeit a little messy – array of lights that he was able to enjoy. By watching them, the sudden urge to go to his and Riku's beach overcame him. Fireflies were always hanging around that part of the island as well, so perhaps if they were glowing in such a high amount over on this end, there would be more on the other side tonight.

Just the thought of being surrounded by both an ocean of water and an ocean of light made Sora shiver blissfully.

"Hey, Sora, you okay?" He looked up to see Axel and Roxas nowhere to be found and only Riku's blue-green eyes staring into his with concern. The other two must have met up with Hayner, Olette, and Pence.

"What?"

"You shivered…" Riku mumbled.

"And you noticed?" Sora teased.

Riku blushed slightly in response and dodged the comment. "Are you cold?"

"I was just thinking," Sora reassured him.

"About?"

A mischievous grin sprouted upon Sora's face, and suddenly he grabbed Riku's wrist and pulled him away from the festive lights of the main road off to the side dirt path.

"I want to go to our beach," he explained.

"Alright," Riku smiled back, wholly compliant. "Wanna race there?"

Sora shook his head. "No, I just want to walk there tonight. I'm not really in the mood for running, ya know?"

Riku ruffled his chocolate locks and turned around. "I'll go find Axel and Roxas to tell them we're leaving early. That way, they won't worry or anything."

"Alright."

Sora followed obediently like a puppy, trailing behind Riku with shorter, but quicker strides to match the silveret's speed. Within a few minutes, they had found their targets, but only to see Olette and Pence frantically trying to help Axel as he pummeled a certain other blond bully into the ground. Roxas and Hayner, however, were torn between letting the bully beneath Axel's fists suffer and doing the right thing by pulling Axel off the younger male.

"Never…" a punch to the jaw, "do you…" a shove to the ground, "_ever_…" more sickening skin-breaking, "hurt Riku…" a grunt of pain, "Sora…" an unfruitful doge of the redhead's fist, "or Roxas!"

Soon, Riku was behind Axel, helping Roxas pull the lanky 18-year-old off of his victim. The battered teen straightened slightly into an upright sitting position only to glare hatefully at Riku and Roxas for pulling his assailant off him.

"Fucking fags," he spat, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his lips. "You make me sick!"

At this comment, Hayner suddenly marched up to the bully in front of him and crossed his arms defiantly. "What did they ever do to you, huh?"

"Queer too, are you?" Seifer smirked and stared the shorter male down.

"So what if I am?" Hayner challenged.

A crowd began gathering about the arguing pair. Sora looked around to see that Roxas had stopped watching and was now tending to Axels' wounds with the cloth of his shirt and a water bottle from Olette. Without realizing it, he had began shaking and had allowed Riku to step behind him and wrap his pale, muscular arms around his body. In fact, his own fingers were now entwined with Riku's and held close to his face in nervous tension.

"Huh. They shouldn't even let you in to Struggle tournaments then." Seifer retorted, his features scrunching up even more in disgust. "Sharing a locker room with a sick fuck like you!"

Suddenly, an evil shadow overcame Hayner's features and he stepped forward, _swinging his hips_, and smirked. "You weren't saying that last week, Seifer, now were you?"

"What the fuck are you imply-"

And in the cut off where everyone had expected a punch, Hayner shoved up against Seifer roughly and orally attacked the other male's lips. A shocked silence followed in which Hayner pressed forth and began dominating the more-than-just-a-kiss with a practiced fervor that Seifer's involuntary reactions were obviously encouraging. And after becoming aware of the pregnant silence originating from the crowd around them, Seifer broke off, panting, face flushed, and ran.

The onlookers parted for him as he fled while Hayner simply sat down in the middle of the ring with a smug grin on his face.

"… Wow." Sora looked behind him to see Riku's face slightly pink and bewildered. "I totally wasn't expecting that."

At that comment, Hayner got up from where he sat on the ground and made his way over to his friends, the smug smile still apparent on his lips.

"About damn time we did that," he sighed amusedly. "The homophobe thing was going on for way too long now."

With the others in a stunned silence, Riku simple leaned over to Axel, pointed at himself and Sora, made a hand gesture for walking, and then took off with the brunet in tow.

* * *

That's right, children, I put in some Seiner! I figured, "Hey, there's no way Seifer would magically be okay with the AkuRoku and RiSo going on if he was straight. Plus, Hayner's probably horny and lonely," and just let it happen.  
For every review received, Hayner and Seifer get the teh smex awhn! Yummy~ X3

_Bisous, Minikimii_


	10. Uncontainable

Disclaimer: Me no can has KH rights. D:  
I know it's short, but I'm sure you'll like it!

* * *

**Uncontainable**

_It's not like I have anything to lose…  
I know he feels the same…  
So why am I holding back?_

**_It's time to do something._**

- -

Fireflies flickered buoyantly around Riku, increasing steadily in number and brilliance, as he was led closer and closer toward his and Sora's beach. The foliage showed no sign of thinning, but the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves slowly grew stronger, signaling to Riku that he would soon be able to remove his sandals and sink into the powdery, white sand of the Eastern Beach.

It was a marvelous sensation, the feeling of Sora's mildly calloused hands wrapped securely around his wrist. To his surprise, Riku didn't feel any sort of lingering awkwardness that he'd been experiencing almost all summer behind the gesture. The only feelings coming from Sora were comfort and excitement.

"We're here."

Riku looked up to see an ocean of stars floating lazily about him in midair. If it hadn't been for the fact that he knew they were fireflies, he would have sworn the universe had sent its celestial beings down to grace himself and Sora with their presence.

"How did you know it'd be so beautiful?" Riku whispered, still awestruck.

Sora grinned, his eyes following individual fireflies for only a few seconds at a time before switching to another one. "Just a lucky guess," he murmured.

Riku watched in a disconnected daze as Sora let go of his arms and raised both his hands up a few inches before his face like he was trying to cup water in his hands. Surprisingly, a single firefly bobbed over toward his friend and continued hovering in the space just before his face. Light from the tiny bug illuminated the brunet's face in a glow so unearthly Riku felt like he was gazing upon the face a tranquil sylph or angel.

The firefly slowly hovered closer toward Sora's face, bumping against his lips twice, and then sped off toward the ocean. Sora giggled and lowered his hands, turning to Riku with a truly serene smile on his face for the first time all summer. With a small grin, he pulled Riku toward him and then seated them both on the ground beneath the not-so-barren paopu tree. Encouraged, Riku got up from his seat and rearranged himself behind Sora so that he was between his best friend and the tree's smooth trunk.

"Hey, Riku?" The silveret hmm-ed a response and pulled Sora into his lap and against his chest. "Do you remember when we used to catch these guys in jars and release them in our rooms?"

"Sora, we only did that once," Riku deadpanned.

The brunet giggled and leaned back with a sigh so that he could see Riku's face. "Yeah, but it was a great one time, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. Do you remember how your mom freaked out about all the bugs in the morning?"

Riku closed his eyes and leaned back. Yeah, he could remember. They were a few years younger and Sora's room had just been painted to reflect the scene of their beach, so the two boys had decided to go out and catch fireflies to release in the room so they could sleep among stars. The end result had been breathtaking. Sora had even gotten a mosquito net put around his bed for the occasion, so that him and Riku could cuddle and watch the bugs without fear of them flying into their faces or into their mouths.

'_It's like we're sleeping in an ocean of stars_,' Sora had told him. '_It's like we're sleeping in paradise._'

Riku's face softened at the memory of his Sora had clung onto him all through that night. When he had awoken the next morning, he even been able to watch the sun rise while his angel Sora had been curled up on his chest, breathing softly as Riku subconsciously stroked his fingers through his hair until Sora's mother had burst into the room, frantic.

"Yup." Sora smiled and slipped Riku's arms around himself, enjoying the feeling of his friend's muscular body engulfing his own in a soft warmth. "She freaked out and wanted to check if we'd swallowed any in our sleep."

Sora giggled and closed his eyes thoughtfully. "It was beautiful, though, wasn't it?"

The couple shared a quiet laugh as they both turned to watch the ocean pick little bits of sand off the shores and simultaneously deposit more grains into the powdery beach. A cooling breeze blew through, causing Riku's hair to flit over and tickle Sora's face. The brunet giggled and nuzzled back closer toward Riku's body.

Riku's eyes slid shut as he rested his head atop Sora's crown of cinnamon spikes and inhaled the scent of coconut and crème. Nothing he knew could ever compare to this. The sound of the ocean waves lapping at the sand beneath his toes, the leaves of the paopu brushing up against one another like sighs, the feel of Sora's body against his and the way the light of the fireflies made him seem like an ethereal entity as they bathed him in pure, natural light… Nothing, truly, could ever compare.

"Sora…" he breathed, half out of wanting to speak to the brunet, half out of pure happiness.

"Hm?" the brunet replied in a hum. Uncertainty leaked into Riku's body when the question that had been nagging in the back of his mind since they got to his beach suddenly sprang forth to his lips.

"A-Are you…"

But Sora didn't need to hear it all – he already knew.

"Yes," he smiled, pulling Riku's arms tightly around his shoulders. "Yes, I am."

With contented smiles upon their lips, the couple turned their faces toward the heavens. Above them, the chubby blue paopu looked like it was almost ready to drop off the tree as moonlight glistened off its deep sapphire skin, ripe and ready for the picking.

_'Our paopu…'_ Riku thought absentmindedly. '_That one's for **us**.'_

* * *

They're finally gonna give it a shot! This story is so close to the end, I could cry. Actually, I think you guys might cry, because the second-to-last chapters is sure to be a tear-jerker.  
Also, I'd like to apologize for the short length of this chapter. There was no realy smooth way to transition into the next event without a chapter break, so I ended up with an unbearably short chapter.

For every review, Riku and Sora get another 'squee moment'.

_Bisous, Minikimii_

**P.S. It's my birthday.**


	11. Unforgivable

Disclaimer: Square Enix (**a.k.a. BL Bishie Factory**) owns Kingdom Hearts.

Title chosen because I know you guys won't forgive me for this (_read: are going to shoot me for this_). Sorry about the abysmally short length. XP

* * *

**Unforgivable**

Riku could hardly believe it was happening to him – Sora was willing to try out being a couple.

Kairi knew it happened by the next morning and had teased the silveret about how it had taken way too long for the two to get together. Sora blushed furiously when he realized Kairi had known all along and had been trying to help Riku (albeit quite ineffectually) try to nab the brunet all for himself.

All Riku could think of was how lucky he'd been that the tourist man (Cloud?) had tried asking Sora out and Sora had rejected him. Although he was happy now that Sora was willing to try "that couple thing" (as the teen had teasingly named it), Riku was suddenly aware that if Sora was admitting an attraction toward men, then maybe he'd have to fight off other men like Cloud from swooping in on his territory and whisking Sora away with their charm.

With a groan, Riku turned over in Sora's lap and rolled full-bodied onto the sand of the Eastern Beach. On his back again, he watched the little blue-yellow fruit sway gently in the ocean breeze. It looked roughly like the shape of a chubby star, and the thought made a fuzzy buzzing start up in the pit of his stomach.

"Hey, Sor?"

"Yeah?" he replied, smiling when Riku turned over onto one elbow, propped his head up on his open, sky-ward facing palm and began playing with Sora's fingers.

"All legends have some sort of truthful base, don't they?"

Sora looked up from where Riku's fingers met his and straight into his best friend's eyes. Even through the mask of his colloquial tone, Sora saw the need to hear an affirmative answer behind his everclear ocean eyes.

"Probably."

Riku seemed to accept the answer and rolled back over so that he was settled sideways in Sora's lap. "That's good."

The brunet just smiled.

For Sora, everything seemed to fall into place. When he'd come home at almost midnight with a grin on his face and a Riku attached his arm, his mother had instantly began beaming at him and ushered them upstairs to go clean up and come back down to eat something and talk.

"_Take as long as you guys might need_," she'd giggled, _winking_ at Sora when Riku's back was turned. It was almost like she didn't give a crap about Sora's virginity.

That was two days ago. Since then, news had spread around the island that Sora's mother had raised three gay sons and the animosity was running high around the small tropical island. Over the past few days, the couple had spent time away from the rest of the villagers over at the Eastern Beach. Finally, the small cavity in the wood that Riku used to rest on because Sora's resting spot while Sora's lap became Riku's new favorite pillow from which to gaze toward the sky and the odd blue fruit that hung above their heads.

Until a few droplets of water had begin assaulting Riku's eyes.

They'd began heading home quickly after that, watching sadly as the storm chased both them and the sun to the other side of Destiny Island. Naturally, the pair entered Riku's house first, exhaling relieved breaths when shelter was secure over their heads and walls were around them to keep everything else out. As Riku went stripped off his still sandy shirt and walked off to his room to change into a cleaner one, Sora took a seat on the couch beside the window. Outside, a premature darkness wrapped across the sky. They hadn't really had a severe storm that summer; perhaps this year's was going to take place now.

"Maybe you should call home," Riku suggested as he came up behind the younger male staring out the window, wrapping his arm around the brunet's hip as they settled into the couch.

"Good idea," Sora murmured somewhat nervously at Riku's forward proximity. "I'll go do that now."

The silveret watched, a soft smile lighting his lips as he watched "I'll get a movie ready?" Riku offered.

"That sounds good," Sora smiled, reaching for the phone in Riku's kitchen.

- -

Four hours later the power went out during the movie. Just as Ariel was getting ready to reveal to Eric Ursula's true form, the screen blipped to black and the precautionary candle the couple had lit in the otherwise empty house became the only source of illumination.

"Aww… I really liked that part," Sora pouted, fighting the urge to snuggle against Riku's torso as they lay together on the ground.

The silveret chuckled and sat up, running his fingers through his hair. "You like the lovey-dovey part of every movie, So."

"Yeah, I know." The brunet giggled and hugged his knees to his chest, rocking on his back once to propel himself into a sitting position. "So do you think the power's gonna be out for lo—AHH!"

A crack sounded through the air as a rock flew through the window, followed by the rain and other wind-swept debris. The candle on the coffee table blew out instantaneously and Sora nearly fell over from shock as the wind swept through the cracked open glass, lapping at everything in the room with intense ferocity. He turned around to grab for his boyfriend, only to find that the space was empty.

"Riku?" he called out, hearing no response but the rain. "_Riku?_"

A bright circle of light crossed into his vision, followed by Riku carrying a few large towels and a second flashlight. The playful glimmer that had been in his eyes only moments before was gone, as if snuffed out and replaced by a solid nothingness.

"Go find a broom to clean and then board up," he instructed, dropping the supplies he'd brought with him. "I have somewhere I need to go."

"Wait, what?!"

Without taking a second look back, the silveret turned and began walking toward the front door.

"Riku!"

The older teen did not respond and simply unlocked the door and stepped outside. Forgetting the impending doom of the living room furniture, Sora ran after him, leaving the flashlight and the towels on the ground where Riku had dropped them. Just as Riku was about the leave the house, Sora caught his arm and yanked him back inside.

"Riku, what are you _thinking_?" he yelled, fisting his hands by his sides. "That storm's fucking crazy!!"

Undeterred, Riku turned and began walking out the door. A sweep of panic came over Sora as he reached out and grabbed onto the silveret's shirt, only to be dragged out onto the porch where the storm was raging. Sora felt the silveret pry his hands off the cotton fibers and his hand automatically latched onto the Riku's. The _th-thump,_ _th-thump, th-thump_ beating in his chest, ears, hands, neck, head, veins was altogether too prominent for his liking as he clung desperately to his best friend's pale-skinned arm. Rain from the storm seeped between his fingers, slowly infiltrating the contact between Sora's hand and Riku's arm until his grasp slipped.

"Riku!"

"Hey, So, I'm sorry." The silveret grinned back at his best friend, the wind whipping his soaked hair across his face. "And if… if…"

Sora's eyes widened and brimmed with tears as the older male pulled him in to a tight embrace. Even in the cold, he could feel the comforting warmth that radiated off of each space where the two of them made bodily contact. Choking on his sob, Sora buried his face deeper into Riku's body and clung on for dear life.

"W-why?" he whispered, his lips cold and pressed against Riku's neck. His body shook to violently he couldn't tell if the tremors were his, Riku's, or a mix of their combined frenzy of movement.

"I-I…" Riku stammered.

Sora's body went cold with a bitter anger. "What could possibly be so important to risk your life for?!"

"I just… I'm sorry Sora." He stopped and looked into the brunet's blueblue_blue_ eyes. "I just have to do this."

And then Riku _kissed_ him.

Their rain-streaked lips met desperately, molding over each other's, pressing, pressing, pressing until Sora couldn't breathe, couldn't feel, and was dizzy with a rush of sensation. He couldn't hear the thunder that cracked so dangerously near the house, he couldn't hear the way the wind screamed through the trees, how large debris fell around the house in crashing chunks. He couldn't feel the way the cold clamped down on his limbs and tried to tear his nerve endings from his body.

All he could hear was the way Riku's heart beat against his own, the way Riku's breath felt against his lips as they pulled back for breath. All he could feel was the cold, sweeping wind that rushed into his body as Riku pulled away.

Unable to stop him, Sora watched with gut-wrenching terror as Riku broke away from him and fled the house into the storm. His entire body shook with an immobilization that made him want to puke. And when the last glimmer of the silveret faded off into the darkness, Sora collapsed and wept. Soundless sobs wracked through his body while the rainwater washed through his clothes until he was soaked to the point where he couldn't feel his skin. The world was numb to his emotions, blind to his pain. What could possibly be so important for him to just… to just…

"R…" he choked on his words, but didn't care. "R-Riku…" he tried again, all too aware of the pitiful state his was in. The feeling of his tears and snot mixing with the dirty rainwater made him sick with guilt and shame. He tried once more, gagging on the dirty water that was seeping off his face into his mouth, pooling with malice that he could have damned the sky for producing.

**_"Riku!"_**

* * *

-dodges bullets-

I'm still kind of on hiatus, but I updated this because I'm pretty much almost done writing the entire story. Just one more chapter to go! :3

For every review, Sora and Riku get an in-the-rain-minus-the-angst moment together! You wouldn't want to deprive them of this, would you? Especially with an impending character dea--  
Okay not really. I'm not that mean.

_Bisous, Minikimii_


	12. Requited

Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Kingdom Hearts.  
Note: The epilogue is best read with the song "Nagareboshi"/"Shooting Star" by Home Made Kazoku playing in the background.

Here it is.

* * *

**Requited**

Rain, wind, lightning, and so much darkness… Riku stumbled through the paths, slipping more than once on the wet earth, a deleterious cough pushed its way up his throat again and he was forced to stop and let the cough subside before continuing.

His feet slipped. Unable to regain his footing, the silveret sat hunched on the ground, his body instinctively curling up into a ball, like a rolly polly assaulted with a prodding child's finger, his face sheltered away from the winds. Water slid down his face and his eyes, and soon he was unable to feel the constant cold downward-sweeping motion. The dark water would trace his nose, wrapping under the curl of his nostril as they reached the ends of their paths. Breathing in became a bother, as water would mingle itself with the air his heaving lungs were begging for.

The pelts of water were making his skin numb and the wind only aided the droplets' hellish descent onto the Earth. A fear ran through his body, a shaking, piercing fear that he might've run out during tonight's storm in vain.

'What if this kills me?'

Riku stood. There was no way he would die in the storm; he wouldn't become another island tragedy that the islanders told stories of to the tourists when they came to visit. But he couldn't stop running; his heart just wouldn't allow it. And it was all for one stupid little… No. It wasn't stupid.

It isn't stupid.

This is for **Sora**.

Conviction renewed, Riku set off on a near sprint toward the beach. Nothing could stop him now.

- -

Sora woke unfeeling. Well, physically, he felt like shit – his body was hot and cold constantly, there were marks from debris flying about during the storm etched into his epidermis – but emotionally, he had gone numb.

'Riku didn't come home last night. He must be… that goddamned **storm**…'

A fresh bulb arose in his throat and a strangled moan forced its way out from between his lips. Images of what could have happened raced through his mind, each one becoming more grotesque than the last, each containing the image of Riku's vibrant eyes going dull in moments. Tremors started in his core, branching out slowly until it reached his hands as an unstoppable tremble.

'What if they don't find Riku until hours, days, weeks, or even months later than now? What if… what if they can't recognize him? What if Riku was w-washed out to… And I'm called in to ID his bo…'

Another fresh wave of nauseating worry flushed over him. Salty tears pooled and overflowed from his sapphire eyes and dribbled down his cheeks like small pearls rolling down a soft, silk hill. Riku couldn't be gone; Riku just wasn't the type to just leave, because Riku was–

'_Why couldn't I notice earlier?!_'

Another wave of regret tore through his body and he collapsed into a shaking heap on the floor. Why didn't he say anything when he had the chance? Being 'just the best friend' was never going to be enough! And now he wasn't going to get a chance to change that.

Sora forced himself up and he walked to the kitchen. From there, he turned to the front door where there was suddenly a knock on the other side of the wood and screen. It couldn't have been Riku' mother – she wasn't going to be back for another week – and Roxas was still stranded at Axel's house.

"G-go away…" he moaned, burying his face in his palms.

Two more knocks sounded faintly before he heard a loud thump from outside.

'_Ohmigod._'

Sora yanked on the knob only to see a exhausted Riku slumped against the outer screen door of his house. Riku backed up slowly from the metal screen, limping slightly as he got out of the way of the door swinging at him so that Sora could get outside. Just as the silveret stepped back, Sora watched Riku's legs wobble followed by his subsequent crash to the ground, A grateful swelling rose in his chest, and the brunet stumbled forward and onto the smooth wooden planks.

"Riku!" he nearly screamed, "we need to get you inside! Here, let me take you—"

Without thinking twice, the silveret leaned up and kissed Sora softly, their lips pressed together until the brunet relaxed, silencing him. Soon after, a rough fingertip pressed to his lips, and Sora's breathing nearly stopped when Riku snaked his hand around the back of the brunet's neck to rest against the base of his skull.

"Don't. " Riku commanded, closing his eyes and smiling, before continuing, "I found this for you… for us."

Sora looked down to Riku's hand where a small green leaf and an ocean blue color peeked out from beneath his hand. Pounding excitement started in his chest as he reached down toward Riku's hand. Slowly, as if he were afraid to break the older teen's pale, damaged frame, he gently lifted Riku's hand to reveal a deep blue star-shaped fruit poking out.

"Paopu…" he whispered in awe. "Are you… for _us_?"

"Yes…" Riku confirmed, a smile lighting his face. "Sora?"

"Hm?" he responded, looking the silveret in the eyes where he saw tears welling up against the clear sky-colored irises.

The silveret slid his eyelids shut slowly, taking the time to let the moisture settling against his eyelashes drop away from the corners of his eyes and slide down his cheeks. Sora couldn't help but feel his eyes sparkle as he took in the view of Riku in the morning sunlight, his body beaten and tattered, fine hair matted from a night spent out in a tropical storm, his gorgeous eyes shining in the orange-dyed light. The pleasant curves of Riku's cheekbones and nasal arch let off a soft glow, the near whiteness of his skin making the silveret sylph-like in appearance. Sora even gave in to the compelling need to touch and traced the silveret's cheek with his finger, confirming to himself that his beautiful man – that his best friend – was really here, alive, and beautiful.

"Will you spend eternity with me?"

His hands shaking, Sora cupped his hand against Riku's cheek and bent down so that their lips were nearly brushing.

"Yes."

* * *

**Epilogue: Eternity**

"Skye!"

The long-haired bluenet turned around, his pony tail flowing behind him as he turned toward the voice who had called him. At the doorway to his apartment stood his boyfriend of two years, Tarren, holding up a bag of Chinese take-out.

"What's up, sexy?" Skye asked, turning back to his painting.

"Not much," the blond replied, setting the bag down on the kitchen counter. "New piece?" he asked, stepping up behind Skye and snaking his arms around the bluenet's neck.

"Mmhmm," the painter sighed, smiling when he felt Tarren's lips brush his shoulder and his tousled blond hair tickle his ear.

On the canvas was picture of two teenage boys, hand in hand, staring out into the night ocean, a rain of stars falling around them. The silver-haired teen held a glass jar toward the sky, as if he were trying to catch them. The other teenage boy, a spiky-haired brunet leaning over to kiss the silveret on the cheek, held the lid to the jar. Upon closer inspection, Tarren realized there was a thin blue ribbon connecting between their wrists.

"I like it," he whispered, settling his chin on Skye's shoulder.

"Yeah," Skye smiled, bringing his boyfriend's hand to his lips, "me too."

* * *

And the adventure is over.

Originally, I hadn't planned an epilogue, but then this popped into my head and needed to be written! Sadly, the school year has ended and my English teacher was unable to read the last chapters. I'm going to print it out for her tomorrow and bring it to her along with a gift. :)

Anyway, I'd like to thank FinalFallenFantasy, **mochiusagi, Ninny-na**, **Knightly Lady**, **Your Alien**, UberBex, sky blue baby, **Tangerine342**, **xXxSmidgexXx**, Anya Urameshi, Moonlight-Vampire5, Yumi Kei, KittyWoman12, Pinuiini, SarcasticProcrastinator-AMLF, YinGYang1, **skye hakari**, ilovewriting23, and rainbow cupcake for sticking with me through this story! Thanks for all the positive words, everyone, and watching my writing grown through the progression of the last year-or-so.

Writing this story has been a great adventure for me, and I salute you for staying so long, despite my text babble and angsting during author's notes.

Perhaps we'll share another story again someday? I look forward to that! :)

___Ne pas oublier cette histoire _s'il vous plaît_...  
Minikimii_


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